while cutting down a wild cherry tree in my backyard, i noticed many 1/2-1 inch holes in the branches. As I looked further inside the branches, I found these strange bugs that measure about 2 mm. There were many of them inside of the wood. Please help identify the bug. I attached two pictures.
These tiny beetles would not be responsible for the holes; they likely are secondary invaders. Their shape reminds me of ground beetles, but I cannot be certain of any identification from these images...
