Woodpecker Preclation on Red Oak Borer1 in Black, Scarlet, and Northern Red Oak2

Abstract

Woodpeckers rank high among the natural agents that help to control the red oak borer, Enaphalodcs rufulus (Haldeman), which infests living oak trees in Ohio. The hairy woodpecker, Dendrocopus villosus , and the downy woodpecker, D. pubescens , commonly peck on borerinfested trees. The red-headed woodpecker, Melanerpes erythrocephalus , and the red-bellied woodpecker, Centurus carolinus, do this only occasionally, although Solomon (1969) reported that these species prey upon red oak borers in oaks of less than 6 in. diameter in Mississippi and Arkansas.