Chemical characterization of bamboo borer dust (BED) indicated that it contained 2.5 +/- 0.5% of an organic entity that was a water-soluble, acid-labile phosphate, nonreducing sugar with a retention period of 5.2 min on a sugar pack column during high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). It was subsequently identified and confirmed as glucose-1-phosphate (G-1-P) from its response to phosphoglucomutase and glucose-6-phosphatase treatment. Although the presence of G-1-P in such a large quantity in BED is inexplicable, it provides a rare and rich source of G-1-P, making it a potential starting material for its isolation in pure state.