What's this bug on my wood pile?

[madman39]

There is a bug that I haven't seen before all over my stacks of wood drying for next season. It is black with yellow stripes, and it is about the size of a big black ant,but it can fly also. They almost look like little yellow jackets. Can any body help?

 

[Wood Doctor]

You said, "It is black with yellow stripes..."

Does it look like this?

 

[Geez]

Without a picture, I can only guess, but it sounds like a hover fly. Actually a fly but it mimics a bee. They don't sting, and they hover in one place like a hummingbird.
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=hoverfly&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=34S2S6TmNoP4Ne3n4ZAJ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CDYQsAQwAw

 

[Wood Doctor]

Perhaps this is closer?

 

[Beaver eager]

Do yours usually hover just above the ground and dig holes? I have them this time of year and they last only a couple weeks usually. Mine look like little fuzzy bees and do not sting that I've noticed. I don't know what mine are but I live and let live as far as they are concerned.

 

[madman39]

Without a picture, I can only guess, but it sounds like a hover fly. Actually a fly but it mimics a bee. They don't sting, and they hover in one place like a hummingbird.
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=hoverfly&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=34S2S6TmNoP4Ne3n4ZAJ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CDYQsAQwAw

It mite be a hover fly, but it looks more like an ant or a wasp than a bee. As long as it dosn't eat my wood I'm ok with it!!!lol I like to know my bugs!:kilt:

 

[nomak]

cicada killer... saw it on billy the exterminator..lol.. least that sounds like what your describing when you say it digs into the ground...

 

[freemind]

http://images.google.com/images?um=...=0&aqi=g1&aql=&oq=Locust+bor&gs_rfai=&start=0

Perhaps a locust borer?

I saw bugs simular to these yesturday when I was cutting some wood. These just are not quite what I saw. Head is a little different and the stripes were straight, not zig-zaged.

They looked an aweful lot like hornets (yellow jackets).

Maybe we saw the same type of bug?

 

[stihl sawing]

Maybe a velvet ant.

 

[caotropheus]

Madman39

Can you please specify the size of your "bug" ? Does it have "external" wings like a bee, or a wasp, or a fly? What species of wood do you have in the pile? Do you pile wood year after year, already for several years? Do you have remaining wood from last year mixed with the new wood? After drying the wood, do you notice any holes and sawdust in the logs?

 

[KsWoodsMan]

There is a bug that I haven't seen before all over my stacks of wood drying for next season. It is black with yellow stripes, and it is about the size of a big black ant,but it can fly also. They almost look like little yellow jackets. Can any body help?

Ive seen them before , in the Spring on a stack of hackberry. They moved like a spider, but looked and flew like a wasp but were a wood borer. I had a lot of trouble finding anything online that resembled them, too. But is this your culprit?

Clicking the bug will take you to the website with a larger image.

 

[madman39]

Madman39

Can you please specify the size of your "bug" ? Does it have "external" wings like a bee, or a wasp, or a fly? What species of wood do you have in the pile? Do you pile wood year after year, already for several years? Do you have remaining wood from last year mixed with the new wood? After drying the wood, do you notice any holes and sawdust in the logs?

The bug is about an inch long, and 1/4 inch wide, the wings are like thoughs on a carpinter ant. The wood pile is ash and soft maple mix. I cut the wood last year in september. I havent noticed any boring holes in the wood. All the pics in the thread look close, but I dont think any of them are it! Thanks everybody for your help!!! I will try to get a pic!

 

[madman39]

The bug only has stripes on its lower half, the upper half is black, if that helps anybody. There will be some good rep coming your way, if you help me!!!

 

[madman39]

Ive seen them before , in the Spring on a stack of hackberry. They moved like a spider, but looked and flew like a wasp but were a wood borer. I had a lot of trouble finding anything online that resembled them, too. But is this your culprit?

Clicking the bug will take you to the website with a larger image.

Thats the bug, I looked at it again, rep coming your way! Thanks!

 

[madman39]

Will this bug eat my wood?

 

[howellhandmade]

Will this bug eat my wood?

Not ALL of it. Seriously, though, lots of wood has some kind of borer in it, but firewood becomes quite a bit less palatable to them once it has dried. If it stays wet of course it will attract all kinds of bugs, but not if it's seasoned. I've had carpenter bees bore into dry firewood but that's about it. All the locust I've cut has had at least a few locust borers under the bark, but by the time I burn it they've moved on, leaving only a few exit holes.

Jack

 

[luvsaws]

Ive seen them before , in the Spring on a stack of hackberry. They moved like a spider, but looked and flew like a wasp but were a wood borer. I had a lot of trouble finding anything online that resembled them, too. But is this your culprit?

Clicking the bug will take you to the website with a larger image.

Kind of looks like sort of a grass hopper

 

[KsWoodsMan]

Thats the bug, I looked at it again, rep coming your way! Thanks!

Your Welcome. I don't have a clue what the adult eats but it was their larvae that were working on the wood in the pile. They all emerged when the weather warmed up. They then flew off in different directions. If the wood had been stacked instead of piled it might have dried out soon enough they wouldn't have been able to winter in the wood. It made a believer of me to get it stacked as early as possible. I never seen them again after that one year.

 

[madman39]

Its a wierd looking bug!

 

[bsearcey]

Ive seen them before , in the Spring on a stack of hackberry. They moved like a spider, but looked and flew like a wasp but were a wood borer. I had a lot of trouble finding anything online that resembled them, too. But is this your culprit?

Clicking the bug will take you to the website with a larger image.

This is funny. I have just finished splitting a bunch of Hackberry and the day after I saw this thread I started finding these bugs. They must really like Hackberry since that is what you are finding them on.