Larva

There are a whole genus of borers that the tree could of had. They are of the genus "Ceratocystis". Like KTSmith said, you have to get up close and personal with the bores to definitively identify the species. For the most part the individual species will exhibit a minimum and maximum total body length. Hairs on the body will also come into identifying the species. And like previously mentioned gallery configuration do play an important role in identification.

When in doubt, capture a few of the little buggers and put 'em in a clean vitimin "I" (Ibuprofen) bottle. There are numerous agencies that will identify the larvae for you.

I have quite a collection of larvae, and a few adults. It is nice to see the interest in this thread, knowing what critters infest the trees we work on is part of becoming a well rounded arborist. With knowledge of more things in the enviornment it enables the arborist to continue on in the field of arboriculture, when their saw swingin' days are over.

BUT I am biased, I am 50 years old!
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Are there any precautions that need to be taken when disposing of infected wood?

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None that I know of.? I wonder of this myself since I see it in quite afew oaks when removing them. Only one I know of is polesaw/handsaw blades or gaffs should be cleaned with alcohol after working on infected trees.

Since we don't use gaffs to prune right? I don't think they need to be cleaned. A good study though would be the trees infected almost always have old gaff wounds.

From what I know the tree needs to already be in decline for this to take hold, as it needs dead bark. Hence the old gaff marks chasing dead limbs, infecting the tree.
 
It would be cool to let the littluns grow out and see what you end up with. The adult apple borer resembles a metallic borer I see on dead pines. It would be a science experiment my littluns and I would get into!

As for the spread of disease, Hypoxylon is a fungus, right? And as such, sporulates, so it could be broadcast spread by chipping and transporting debris possibly? Certainly leaving infected wood lying about..but as you mentioned, Hollenreich, to take hold it would need a tree in decline...

I'm just thinking of all the different palm diseases we have here and the different ways we are "supposed" to deal with the debris and tools; whether they are infected with ganoderma, fusarium, or phytoplasma, etc. Chipping the fronds of one but not the lower trunk, or vice versa, and proper composting or burning...soaking pruning tools in a pine-sol solution etc.
 
No special disposal required for the hypoxylon-infected wood. They are broadly-distributed, native opportunists.

Wounded oak sapwood can be infected by more than a few basidiomycetes as well as ascos. The common basidios in my backyard (southern ME)on one-year old wounded sapwood would be the turkeytail fungus (Coriolus or Trametes versicolor) and the purple stereum, lots more. Armillaria infections and other so-called "heart rots" or butt rots are first established in sapwood.
 
Perhaps this should be another thread?

The first thing to know about tool disinfection is that rarely is it necessary!

Indeed, there are some critical diseases, fireblight comes to mind, that is well-documented to spread from pruning tools. Other diseases, such as oakwilt, can be spread by infected bugs that vector the pathogen into freshly made wounds. In that case it is the timing of injury that is important, rather than disinfection.

For the wood decay fungi with which I have had the most experience, they are hard to get started in freshly-made wounds. There might be some exceptions, but I figure that inoculum is everywhere, so sterile tools aren't a great help.

As a disinfectant, household bleach diluted to 1 part bleach with 9-10 parts water works well. Of course, once something is sterilized, it doesn't stay that way for long!

There are other good reasons to keep tools clean, however!
 
While making another thread may be appropriate, I've still got some waking up to do, my fingers are as of yet still retarded and I have the xactlies. So I'm staying right here.

The tool sterilization we are instructed to perform here in SWFL is really only for palm pruning. How efficacious (that was a tough one) is it, really, when you're dealing with a chainsaw stuffed with palm debris in every nook and cranny? And as you mentioned the inoculum is everywhere, airborne. But once you know you have disease onsite it's best to take precautions. And again, it's not necessary for Most diseases.

25% bleach or pine sol solutions, 50% rubbing alcohol or denatured ethanol, or 5% trisodium phosphate or quaternary ammonium salts. We didn't use the bleach because it's too hard on the tools over the long term.

I had heard that there are some large commercial establishments, hotels/casinos, out west somewhere that require one saw per palm, each numbered so there are no mix-ups.
 
What are the diseases of concern? I have to confess to a limited knowledge of palms! Indeed, bleach is hard on tools and clothing! 10% (v/v of household bleach in water) is noticeably less damaging than 25%, and does as well. That's what we use in my lab for surface disinfection of samples and countertops.
I am curious about the specific diseases, though. Sometimes that level of concern is well-justified, other times it's superstition!

Kevin.
 
Fusarium is the one disease I had in mind. Fusarium oxysporum to be a bit more specific. One strain hits canaries and a few other date palms, then a few years ago a new strain started killing off queens, then washies got in the mix. The solution information came right from ifas publications from UFL, Drs. Elliott and Broschat.

When we lived on Long Island I vaguely remember something about not transporting tree debris. Sorry but I wasn't a tree girl at the time, too busy having babies. I'm not sure if it was an insect or the fungus the insect hauled around?

I think that if there is something that should be done and it is reasonable to do it, then we should do it. Most of the fungal issues we are familiar with are ever present and naturally occuring etc. But with all the stressors present in our urban forest it just seems to me to be something we need to be a bit more diligent about. We have communities here with >1000 5-7 y.o. live oaks planted over a foot too deep with the wire baskets still on the ball, and plastic rope. The baskets were left on so the fork operator would have an easy time of poppin em out of the ground when they died. Clever that! And these communities can't afford to bring in knowledgable companies to airspade nowadays. These trees are just waiting for some bad nasty to blow in on a Gulf breeze.
 
Quite right, I need to remember Fusarium wilt of palms for disinfection of tools. Especially since there is a raft of genets or form species of Fusarium oxysporum that cause palm diseases! Thanks for that important reminder!

Yes, systematic decline/disease of whole neighborhoods still happens due to neglect during planting and establishment. Sad to see, especially when doing it right would cost less than removal and re-establishment! Thanks again!
 
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