Wood Beetle Infestation

The costs of a woodworm infestation can be immense not only damaging your furniture but may also affect the timber structure of your house.
Wood beetle infestation. The adults are 1 4 inch brown beetles with narrow bodies that typically emerge from the wood between april to july. Wood powder is a sign of an active infestation of wood boring beetles. If you ve noticed these wood boring beetles in furniture or their activities around your home then i m sure you re more than eager to get rid of them. Woodworm are the larvae of wood boring beetles and the most common species is the common furniture beetle.
Some of the most common wood boring beetles are. Adult beetles are dark brown to black and only 1 8 inch to 1 4 inch long. Common furniture beetles deathwatch beetles house longhorn beetles and powder post beetles. Note the sawdust pouring from the holes bored by larval beetles.
They bore holes into your wooden structures and can cause damage worth thousands of dollars. Often the first sign of a powder post beetle infestation are holes in wood and powder like sawdust. Within homes and other buildings the furniture beetle is an exceedingly common pest. If you see white non clumpy powder on or near wood the infestation is most likely active and woodworms may be present.
The larvae of wood boring beetles are known as woodworm. How to identify an active woodworm infestation it can be tricky to tell if you have an active woodworm infestation as the main damage is caused inside the timber and you re unlikely to see any visible results for years. A woodworm infestation begins when a female wood boring beetle lays her eggs inside the cracks holes and crevices in your timber. Because their damage can look similar to the damage caused by other pests like termites carpenter ants and even carpenter bees wood boring beetles like the powder post beetle often get misdiagnosed which prolongs proper treatment and may lead to more damage.
Furniture beetles also known as wood boring beetles are a pain in the neck for many homeowners. The wood boring beetle chooses very rotten timber of either the hard or softwood variety and thrives in very damp conditions often flying to and settling in buildings with damp problems. Most powder post beetles like wood with a high moisture content but some beetles prefer to live in dry wood. After a few weeks her eggs hatch and the larvae begin to feed on the material around them eating their way through the wood and potentially causing serious structural damage.
Second only to termites as a threat to wood structures powder post beetles can be found in any region or climate. Infestations can damage decorative woodwork musical instruments wooden tools and on a more serious scale wood flooring joinery and structural timbers. Image via screen capture from featured video showing active infestation. Other common beetles include the following.