WOOD BORER MANAGEMENT SERVICE:
Wood borers belong to the family of beetles whose larval or adult forms eat and destroy wood. They are important in the turnover of trees by culling weak trees, thus allowing new growth to occur, but in homes they can cause severe damage to furniture. … Wood Borers turn wood into a mass of wood dust.
WHAT CAUSES WOODWORM?
There are factors that can increase one’s chances of woodworm infestation.
- Woodboring beetles can fly. Their flight is limited to some extent, but still enough to fly through open windows, as any other bug would do.
- Bigger risk of acquiring these pests is old or second hand furniture. There is a possibility that furniture has been previously used in an infested household or stored in a place with other potentially infested furniture. To lower these chances, inspect closely any furniture that goes in your property.
- High humidity resulting from poorly ventilated spaces.
COMMON FURNITURE BEETLE (ANOBIUMPUNCTATUM):
The adults don’t feed on wood, they only reproduce. Damage is caused by their larvae, also known as woodworm. Adults are 2.7 – 4.5 mm in length, while larvae are 1mm long, C-shaped in creamy white colour. Their life cycle is about 3-4 years long and due to that fact, evidence of infestation holes might take years to manifest. The common furniture woodworm attacks only seasoned sapwood timber. Usually it does not attack heartwood timbers. Because of their love for sapwood, some building regulations declare that more than 25% of sapwood should not be used, so that building’s structure could not be substantially damaged. ...
LIFE CYCLE:
Insects emerge from May to August and mate. Lay eggs in cracks, crevices, end grain, old exit holes; eggs are white and lemon-shaped. Starts feeding on wood straight from egg for a continuous period of 3 or more years. Larvae reach up to 6mm in length. Development takes below surface of wood. They emerge in pupal stage which takes between 6 – 8 weeks.
WOODWORM SIGNS:
Round exit holes, around 1.5 – 2 mm in diameter. Short tunnels, lemon shaped pellets present in gritty bore dust.
FACTS TO REMEMBER
- Most serious pest of all types of processed & soft wood
- Dark brown to black in colour
- Female lay eggs in the crevices and rough surfaces
- After hatching the larva bores into the wood
- The life cycle may take more than one year
- The adult is a good flyer and thus can attack and spread the infestation in new area
- Damage Sign – small, round holes on the surfacefine powder
INJECTING CHEMICAL
METHOD OF TREATMENT:
- Injecting oil based chemical with syringe of all the holes.
- Then the holes should seal with wood wax
- Frequency will be first four months to do the chemical injection of monthly once and regular check required for one year
