Tree borers

If a tree has smaller than onehalf inch holes here and there on the trunk, it likely had an insect borer.

Visible holes are made by adult borers leaving the tree, rather than an insect boring into the tree. Holes in the trunk indicate borers have been in the tree for at least one season.

If there are rows or lines of about one-half inch holes on a trunk, especially pines, these are made by yellow-bellied sapsucker woodpeckers. The bird drills holes and then licks up the sap. The wounds are typically shallow and do not cause long term harm to healthy trees.