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Reply With QuotePopPop, Think you could have a 'Girdler' or a 'Pruner'. Noticed a couple of small oak limbs today while scouting deer. Smooth rounding on the edges, broken through the center. 'Googled' this up. Jim
You asked: 'At this time of year you see a lot of little branches cut off of hardwood trees lying all over the ground with a circular cut at the base of the branch. I notice this mostly on oak, pecan and hickory trees. This occurs this time of the year only about the time squirrels starts cutting nuts. All my life I though it was the squirrels cutting these branches off. I was told by a hunting friend the other day it was a type of worm doing this. I am somewhat skeptical and was hoping someone would know and could point me in the direction with some documentation.'
"Twig Girdler/Twig Pruner
Plants Attacked
Pecan, hickory, and oak are the most commonly attacked, but persimmon, elm, poplar, gum, basswood, honey-locust, dogwood, and some fruit trees can be damaged as well.
Description of Damage
These beetles cause very conspicuous damage in late summer. The leaves on large numbers of twigs and branches will be observed to turn brown prematurely. These twigs and branches sometimes fall from trees in great numbers and accumulate. On close examination, the twigs have one of two kinds of damage. Twigs damaged by the twig girdler are cut as neatly as by a knife. The cut end has been gnawed almost straight across with a faint rounding and is slightly roughened by the chewing. The twig girdler is more commonly found on pecan and hickory. The twig pruner causes a slightly different type of cut. The twig will be observed to have a hollowed out space at the cut end filled with sawdust like frass. The twig when split open will have a long tunnel through most of its length. The twig pruner is more commonly found on oak."
