Some Woodboring Beetles pose no threat to your home, while others can cause devastating damages. Knowing which is which can make all the difference. There are many different varieties, sizes, and shapes of Woodboring Beetles, and each has a distinct type of frass. Some prefer softwoods, while others infest only hardwoods. All of these differences help in determining how to control an infestation.

Woodboring Beetles are typically identified when a customer or home inspector notices a section of wood freckled with small circular holes. This can be a cause of great concern, but in many cases, there is no real danger. These holes are caused by beetle larvae that have been inside the wood, taking considerable time to grow and pupate into an adult before chewing its way out of the wood, never to return. Other times, there is nothing left of the wood but a powdery mess.

Some species, such as the False Powder Post Beetles, Flat-Headed Wood Borer, and Ambrosia Beetles do not reinfest the same wood. This means the damage they cause is typically limited and a corrective treatment may not be needed. Other species, such as True Powder Post Beetles, Death Watch Beetles, and the Round-Headed Borer, will reinfest the same piece of wood. This allows them to cause considerable damage over time.

Woodboring Beetle services are performed on a case-by-case basis, as treatment options are rather limited. The most common method of treatment is a surface application to exposed wood members with a residual borate insecticide. The surface of the wood must be free of any kind of sealant or paint. If the wood has been sealed or painted, it must first be sanded down to bare wood, so that the wood is able to take in the material.

The most important thing a homeowner can do when Wood-Boring Beetles are suspected of infesting your structure is to contact a professional. Rambo Total Pest Control is here to help, and our technicians will not steer you wrong. If Woodboring Beetles are damaging your home or business, call to schedule your home pest evaluation today!

Wood-Boring Beetles include several varieties, such as: Lyctid (Powder Post Beetles), Anobiid (Deathwatch Beetles), Buprestid (Flat-Headed Borers), and Cerambycid (Round-Headed Borers). These beetles go through complete metamorphosis, but they do all their destruction of wood in the larval stage of their life cycle. Generally, the mature female will lay eggs into the bark of dead or dying trees, and the eggs hatch into the larval stage. They bore into the tree and begin the slow process of eating and growing.

Some species can develop into adults within one year, and others (if conditions are poor) can remain in the larval stage for 20 or more years, continually eating the wood. The extent of damage is not determined by how long the larva feeds, but by whether or not the species is capable of reinfesting the same material upon mature adult emergence out of the wood.

In other words, some species have been found to emerge as adults and then lay eggs on the same wood material, which results in a continual feeding frenzy on structural timbers that can last for decades. Others will simply fly away and lay eggs into other dead or dying trees.