Bug of the week

[Don_P]

I've been round the net trying to ID a bug I met this week. I got a positive ID and thought some of you might enjoy it as well.

This is a female oak timberworm boring an egg laying hole. She bores the hole, turns around, oviposits a single egg and then moves on. This was a timber milled onsite in an upland oak forest last summer. The area is well known for heavy borer activity... low grade sawlogs. Historically charcoal and tanbark was produced here. There is a charcoal hearth on the property. We had planed the surface she was boring within the previous day or two exposing fresh and relatively green wood.

I've done a bit of googling to help round out my knowledge;
http://www4.uwm.edu/fieldstation/naturalhistory/bugoftheweek/weevil.cfm
http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/foresthealth/pubs/oakpests/p21.html
http://wiki.bugwood.org/Archive:Borers/Arrhenodes_minutus

[Squirl]

Good photo.