Twig Girdlers

Have you ever noticed that in the fall there are sometimes a lot of small branches on the ground?  Sometimes they almost cover a trail.  Next time you see a small branch, pick it up and see if the end looks like this:

If it looks like it was evening circled and just the middle part broke off, then it wasn't just the wind knocking branches off, it was the Tree Girdler (Oncideres cingulate). 
These little beetles are actually really cool.  They are native and common all over the eastern US.  If you can see some little grooves above the break, the Tree Girdler gnawed some gashes to lay her eggs in before chewing through most of the branch.  Its how they spread their eggs.  Once the branch falls off, the eggs will hatch and the larvae will live inside the branch until its time for them to emerge as adult beetles, the it starts all over again.  They only cut off smaller branches, so the trees are not damaged very much. 
I like to look for the mark of the Tree Girdler to make clearing off the yard or trail slightly more interesting.