The Insect with Tastes Unfortunate for Power Equipment: The Camphor Shot Borer

The recent stormy weather, with all its potential problems, has focused many panhandle Florida residents on alternate tools for a variety of uses to keep civilization at hand.  In some cases, gasoline powered engines are necessary to achieve a level of 21^st century comfort.

Internal combustion engines fueled by gasoline require more attention and present some challenges for their users. To add to the list of potential glitches, users may unexpectedly find holes in plastic gas containers left exposed to the elements for a few days.

Worse, holes in the gas lines and gas tanks of power equipment have been experienced. The affected equipment appears to have been shot repeatedly with a BB gun or caught in the blast pattern of a shotgun’s birdshot discharge.

Closer examination of the mysterious cavities will reveal the true culprit. It is not a malicious 12-year-old with a pellet gun and bad judgement nor a myopic dove hunter.

The offender is a bug known by an assortment of common names, including Camphor Shot Borer here in north Florida. This insect is a type of ambrosia beetle, the entomological cousin to the Redbay Ambrosia Beetle which has killed many local bay and sassafras trees.

Tiny and almost invisible to the unaided eye, these minuscule insects present a unique problem for any users of ethanol leaving their power equipment exposed to the elements.

Euwallacea fornicates, as it is formally known, is also an exotic invasive native from southeast Asia. Like its highly destructive cousin, it carries a fungus in its mouth which helps it digest plant material, but it is thought to be only mildly toxic to local plants and trees.

While it is not considered a horticulture threat in the United States, it is a major problem in some parts of the world. Tea producing areas are frantically attempting to control this insect which has earned the name tea shot-hole borer.

Typical of this group of beetles, to locate potential meals it focuses on a chemical compound exuded by distressed trees. Whether insects, disease or any other stressors, deteriorating trees emit ethanol gas, and therein lay the problem for power equipment owners.

The Camphor Shot Borers detect the presence of ethanol in the commonly available fuel mixtures and literally dig in for a meal. Good flyers, this pest species easily reaches new opportunities to drill into potential nourishment. 

The unlucky equipment owner is left to replace useless components which have the fluid holding capacity of Swiss cheese. Power equipment leaking flammable fuel becomes a fire hazard in short order.

Unfortunately, the options for controlling this situation are limited. Of course, steel replacement parts are impervious to this insect’s attacks but are more expensive and harder to find and install.

The use of fuel without ethanol is another possibility. Both options may prove to be inconvenient and expensive, but not as expensive as replacing parts and fuel containers.

There are no insecticides on-label to spray or dust power equipment and it is doubtful any of those chemicals would remain for long. Proper storage in a secure site may offer the best protection from this bug with a peculiar appetite.