Damage done by Insect 1

[jqeng]

Does anyone have any ideas what kind of insect could have done this damage? The building is in Ontario east of Toronto.

 

[Ron]

Looks more like a fungal attack than insects.

 

[bimr]

It looks like the builder used a piece of scrap rather than graded lumber. If an insect had done the damage, there would be a pile of debris on the floor where material fell off

Do you have a better picture?

 

[msquared48]

Also, is that bark on the piece of lumber at the top of the picture? If so, it is definitely scrap lumber...

If there were shavings at the bottom, it almost looks like a cat or squirrel scratching post.

Thought: Why are you assuming that the nails were fully driven?

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
Motto: KISS
Motivation: Don't ask

 

[Ron]

Look at the nails in the photo....the reduction in material came after the nailing....

 

[jqeng]

I am almost positive this is not scrap lumber. I have many pictures with similiar damage throughout the building. All look similiar to this. Ive considered carpenter ants but the wood looks so smooth and doesnt have many holes in it like all my reference carpenter ant damage photos.

 

[psmart]

Exactly what "damage" are you asking about? Outer cuts, often with some bark attached, were sometimes used when four square faces weren't required. It seems to be nailed to a full two-by joist, which helps to date the structure. Looks a lot like my 1907 attic framing! As for the protruding nail heads, that could be shrinkage in a hot attic environment, or just the bark falling off after construction.


Peter Smart
HydroCAD Software

http://www.hydrocad.net

 

[Ron]

jgeng...that was my first thought as well, but the pattern is too consistent and too much overall coverage for an insect...which is why I think it is fungal.

 

[dik]

It looks like they have just 'scaled' the bark off... the lumber appears to have a curvature like the outside of the tree... Any better pictures?

Dik

 

[bimr]

I think Ron is correct. It may be a fungi of some sort.

Perhaps the damage may have occured before the board was actually nailed on.

Here is a link to a document that may help to identify it:

http://www.pested.msu.edu/Resources/bulletins/pdf/2047/E2047chap7.pdf

 

[jqeng]

here is another couple pictures

 

[jqeng]

second pic

 

[bimr]

Looks like the House Longhorn Beetle (Hylotrupes bajulus) or Old House Borer:

http://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/pdf/oldHouseBorer.pdf

http://www.dampdecay.co.uk/index.php/gallery?func=viewcategory&catid=9

 

[ACtrafficengr]

bimr may be on to something. One of his sources says house longhorn beetles will infest sapwood. It could be the larvae ate off the sapwood and left the heartwood.

"...students of traffic are beginning to realize the false economy of mechanically controlled traffic, and hand work by trained officers will again prevail." - Wm. Phelps Eno, ca. 1928