Branches

[Klyde O'Scope]

You're not going to find wood boring beetles in a live branch you cut from a tree.

I'm sorry, but that simply isn't true.

Wood boring pests are more likely to go after baked branches(dead wood). That's why they're a pest in furniture. (Second or third time I've had to correct this guy on that)

I would say second or third time you've reiterated misinformation.
And they're not going to go after furniture or other wood in your home if you've killed them first.

From University of Kentucky Entomology

Wood-boring insects are among the most destructive pests of ornamental trees and shrubs. Most borers are the larvae (immature stages) of certain moths and beetles. They tunnel and feed under the bark in living wood, destroying water- and sap-conducting tissues. This causes girdling, branch dieback, structural weakness, and decline and eventual death of susceptible plants. Infestation sites also provide entry points for plant pathogens.

From https://www.pennlive.com/gardening/2017/04/kiss_your_ash_trees_goodbye_un.html

An imported wood-boring bug called the emerald ash borer has been wiping out ash trees over the eastern half of the United States, and it's now fully parked in Pennsylvania. The bug is poised to kill just about all of the 308 million ash trees in our forests, parks and neighborhoods.

They don't wipe out or kill trees that are already dead.

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/trees/tgen/tree-borer-insects.htm

Tree borers are a group of insects that lay their eggs on or inside of trees, where the young larvae eat their way through living tissues.

...and much much more. See: boring beetles in live trees