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When the bark fell off of this dead conifer in the Pacific Northwest I was amazed by the pattern on the cambium (or is it phloem?). I assume some sort of insect caused this? If so, what kind? And did this kill the tree?

Insect etching on dead conifer?

M H
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feetwet
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1 Answers1

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Those are tunnels of some kind of borer - the larvae make the galleries when they feed on the tree. It's possible that the borer did indeed kill the tree, but without knowing the genus of the tree it's not possible to be certain.

Jurp
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