What species of animal is the "telephone-pole", native to the Eastern USA?

The larvae are wood-borers that feed on moist and decaying chestnut and oak logs. They have also been reported as causing damage to buildings and poles (hence the name).

The life cycle is unusual in that the cerambycoid stage of the larva gives birth via parthenogenesis to caraboid larvae, or more rarely, develops into an adult female. Adult males also rarely develop, consuming their mother from the inside. Development into adults is triggered by high temperatures, but this also results in high mortality of larvae. The adult females have a lifespan of six days, while males only live for around 12 hours, with a strongly biased sex ratio towards females. The adults of both sexes are sterile, and are vestigial remnants of a time when the life cycle involved sexual reproduction. The loss of sexual reproduction is likely associated with its infection by Wolbachia bacteria.