cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/29486021
cross-posted from: https://lemmit.online/post/2665486
this intricate pattern on a stick found while hiking in sedona, az
This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/mildlyinteresting by /u/delayed_milk on 2024-04-15 04:56:39.
I am by no means any kind of expert on the matter, but maybe the tree it came from was struck by lightning? The pattern looks similar to those videos online I’ve seen of people burning patterns into wood with car batteries
Pretty sure it’s termites/beetles or some other insect
Wood borer is more likely I would have thought?
Looks like insect larva eating their way through the branch under the bark
Bark beetle galleries. Interesting info: some woodpeckers have long tongues rolled in their beaks. They peck on the bark to detect where the galleries are, then they drill in. Once they break into the galleries, they explore all the passages with their tongues until they can scoop out the juicy beetle larvae. Yum!
They also wraps the tongue around their skull when pecking, to protect their brain against the impact!
