What Now?

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Jun 3, 2004
1,863
Macgregor 25 So. Cal.
:eek:Rubber-Eating Beetles Return to Catalina
By: Taylor Hill | Wednesday, May 12, 2010 12:00:00 AMLast updated: Friday, May 14, 2010 10:20:00 AM
SANTA CATALINA ISLAND — As Catalina enjoys the warming trend of spring and summer, a familiar foe has returned to wreak havoc in Avalon.

Photo by: Santa Barbara Museum of Natural HistoryBeetle Trouble – The “lead cable borer” beetle has returned to Santa Catalina Island this spring. The recent change in the bug’s diet from dead trees to golf cart fuel lines and fuel pump hoses is causing leaks and headaches in Avalon.
Scobicias declivis, a tiny beetle that is also known as the “lead cable borer,” was first discovered on the island in the 1980s and is known to dig round holes in dying tree trunks to lay its eggs. Last June, the .35-inch-long critters suddenly changed their diet, opting instead for rubber and plastic products — including automotive and golf cart fuel lines, and portable gasoline tanks.

“This year, they are a little bit worse,” said Avalon fuel dock supervisor Tomas Moreno. “They hang out at the regular gasoline pumps on the hoses — but not on the diesel — and they put a perfect pinhole in them, like a termite. And then, the hose leaks.”

Dr. James Hogue, manager of biological collections at California State University, Northridge, properly identified the beetles last year, and he has struggled to find any studies of other beetles with similar tendencies.

“The only thing I could find even referring to rubber-boring beetles was an article from over 100 years ago mentioning a related species going into rubber hoses … and it was in French,” Hogue said.

The bugs now being spotted in Avalon are actually a brand-new batch of beetles from the same species, as the eggs laid in dead trees last season emerge as adults during spring and early summer.

While no one is certain what caused the beetles to switch from gnawing on wood to rubber and plastic, Hogue believes certain fumes coming from gas lines are similar to fumes given off by dead and dying trees.

“They’re not really eating the rubber: They just chew a hole in it to lay their eggs, kind of treating it like a dead tree,” Hogue said. The beetles die upon coming in contact with gasoline — but by then, the damage is done.

So far, the beetles have been content to stay on land and prey on fuel station pump hoses, and car and golf cart fuel lines. However, visiting boaters should be wary of the pesky insects, too.
“I haven’t heard of any boats being damaged, but the beetles do like those plastic portable marine fuel tanks,” Moreno said.
Moreno, who sees the beetles flying around his gas pumps all day, noted that spraying detergent on the pumps can help fend off the pests for a time. “But they still come back,” he added.
 

Nik

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Mar 15, 2008
247
MacGregor 26D Valparaiso, Indiana
It's time to dust everyting with DE (diatamatious earth), Boric Acid and Sevin (friendly stuff, well sort of). Heck, add some Diazanon, Malathion and Carboxyl to the mix. It's a shame we can't use DDT and PerChlor any more (just wear a RUBBER SUIT) :( . The best for weed controll is still Primaol 2-4-d mixed with fuel oil. :) I am now going into hiding... LOL, !JK!. This sounds like another serious problem of invasive species that will not be easily fixed.
 
May 26, 2004
204
Macgregor Venture 25 Trailer Sailor
Oh yeah. Well we finally have the Emerald Ash Borer and I have two ash trees in my front yard and there's not a damn thing we can do about it!
 
Aug 28, 2009
194
MacGregor 26D BC
“This year, they are a little bit worse,” said Avalon fuel dock supervisor Tomas Moreno. “They hang out at the regular gasoline pumps on the hoses — but not on the diesel —

There is one answer, coat any gas fuel lines with diesel. It will be a long time evapourating. Use gloves to fuel.

This beatle is new to me. I wonder if it affects small gas engine aircraft. A lot of jet engine lines are steel braided and jet fuel may smell morer like diesel.

Its distant cousin the Mountain Pine beatle killed off 30,000 acres of trees here in BC. Including half my previous 20 acre property and it had us on one hour standby several months each year There was a total eviction the year after we sold. Thank goodness for Walmart totes which we lived out of. Our present place, 2 acres only had about 20 dead trees which I logged off.

It needs several nights of minus 40 C or F (same temp this low) in order to kill them off. Haven't had temps liike this for 15 years due global warming.

On wasps nests I've used ether based engine quick start..

Good luck.
 
Aug 28, 2009
194
MacGregor 26D BC
Its distant cousin the Mountain Pine beatle killed off 30,000 acres of trees here in BC.

Error missed off a few zeros.
 
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