Singing Pine Tree

She Has Her Mother's Thorax

For that last few years I've had a couple of 'singing' pine trees. Basically I've had two dead pine trees that have been emitting a noise that can be heard from quite some distance...up to 50 feet away. The noise wasn't really sing-songy...more a crunchy kind of sound. It turns out to be the larval, grubby, Michelin man, wormlike white monster you see in the picture.

I don't know what it is but it's some kind of wood boring beetle larva, or a grub, or a monster! This thing has a wicked pair of mandibles. If it was a bit bigger, I'd swear it could take down a small dog (like a Sheltie, for instance).

The larva lives under the bark of the rotting pine tree. I knocked down a section of bark and found five of these creatures underneath. No doubt they're quite a delicacy...for a woodpecker. I'd have to sauté them in butter before I'd give them a try!