AHAAA!!!! i may have found the culprit! as i went to put down my bottle caps of maple syrup (we didnt have honey
) i noticed something gnawing on my tree! there it was, an ant larva (grub) eating the bark just underneath where he had apparently reared his ugly head once before. with the utmost precision, i snagged him with the nearest drinking straw, and squashed his maple-wood-filled-translucent body all over the concrete. granted, he was tiny and it wasnt much of a squishing as much as it was a smearing, but it got the job done. i put down the caps anyhow and hopefully there was only that one larva. (yeah right) but this raises a new question: how do i get rid of ant larvae infestation?