How to Kill Wood Boring Beetles
Wood Boring Beetles are one of the most critical pests to watch out for in your home. They undergo a complete metamorphosis life cycle: egg, larva, pupa, and adult beetle. Their eggs usually are placed on surface cracks or deep into wood crevices.
When the larva hatch from the eggs, they will feed off the wood food source until they are ready to leave. This is when you can start to see small tunnels with sawdust-like material scattered around. The hole diameter will depend on how many molting stages the beetle had gone through when it dug the specific hole.
Typically, people do not notice that they have a problem until it becomes an entire infestation. At that point, you’ll be able to see multiple holes and frass or sawdust-like fecal matter everywhere. At this point, structural damage to the wood could become a concern.
You can also check our blog on beetles in Nashville.
What Risk Do Wood Boring Beetles Create For Your Property?
Wood boring beetle infestations often end up costing homeowners more money than they should have to spend. These beetles are not just a pest on wood but all of your personal belongings in the home as well. If left untreated, these beetles can spread and destroy a house.
Wood-boring beetles are tiny insects that live inside wood or trees. Insect mouthparts have teeth, and they are using these to chew through the wood, secreting saliva to help with the process. Beetles can cause sounds such as popping or drilling while they work, which can be very distracting. In addition, the beetle pieces may become stuck in the wood during this process as their jaws cut them off. If these pieces contain eggs, a new generation of beetles could begin developing inside.
As they grow from larva to pupa and then adult, these beetles will stay in one place and feed on the same wood, where homeowners often see their furniture/structures damaged. They also leave stains or holes on the wood where they have been chewing. The holes they create also allow water and mold into the infested area, which causes weakening of the structural integrity of trees and buildings.
Wood-boring beetles can cause a significant amount of damage if they are not treated quickly by an exterminator. By hiring a professional exterminator with experience in boring wood beetles, you can ensure that they will treat infestations correctly.
How Many Different Types of Wood-Boring Beetles are There?
Wood-boring beetles tend to go dormant during colder months but can return during warmer seasons. There are approximately 300,00 known species of wood-boring beetles worldwide. Of that number, 100 species can cause damage in the United States. Many of these species are listed as pests because they can cause harm to trees and other wooden structures. Certain types of beetles can destroy large parts of a forest or building. The damage can be costly to rectify, especially if the design is historical or old.
Wood-boring beetles are one of the most important wood-destroying insects, and they can cause a lot of damage depending on many factors. The type of wood (softwood or hardwood), the moisture content in the furniture, and environmental conditions at infestation sites all affect how much destruction is caused by these pesky bugs.
Wood-boring beetles have been called “the enemy within” because it’s so difficult to know when an area has become infected by these insects unless you’re able to identify their presence early enough.
Some of the most common wood-boring beetles are the following:
Anobiid Powderpost Beetles
There are more than 200 known types of these beetles, but only a few infest wood. This is also known as powderpost beetles or deathwatch beetles. The average size of these beetles is 1/8 to 1/4 inches. You can find most of them in homes. Their colors range from reddish-brown or black, with the head peeking out behind them when they move their body segment into an upright position.
Anobiids are a type of beetle that can infest both hardwoods and softwoods, which only the larvae feed on wood. They usually prefer to be in cool locations with moisture levels higher than 14%. These beetles are commonly crawling around your home’s crawl space as they have better access to it.
Bostrichid Powderpost Beetles
These beetles are sometimes called “false” or “large” powderpost beetles, bamboo borers, or even lead-cable. They range in size from 1/8 inch to 1/4 of an inch long, and an adult’s color ranges from reddish to black. Their segment is just behind, concealing the head from above like those of the Anobiid.
Most bostrichids will attack freshly cut softwoods like mahogany. In contrast, others only consume hardwood flooring such as oak—though the damage these destructive pests do is still less severe than lyctids or even Anobiid by far.
Old House Borers
These insects are called old house borers mainly because they are found in old houses but are more visible in new homes. These long-horned beetles belong to a group called cerambycid. Most of these beetles are wood borers on their larval stage, and only the old house borers are considered serious threats. The old house borers range in length between 5/8th inch up to 1inch. These hairy insects are also distinguished for their brownish-black in color.
Wood-boring Beetles Treatment and Prevention
You can prevent beetles around the home by cleaning up any fallen branches and removing all rotten wood from the outside of your home. Insects are attracted to wet wood because a damp log’s soft, porous surface provides an accessible haven for them. Wood-boring beetles are a type of insect that can make their way through dry hardwood logs by drilling and laying eggs. They use this colonized area as food for their larvae.
This can lead to a significant infestation of wood-boring beetles. However, they are hard to detect as they are minimal and can blend into the wood’s surface. Make sure to repair any rotting wood in your home before you become infested. Also, check for gaps around doors and windows in your home as well as roofing.
Wood boring beetle infestations usually result from old pieces of furniture being moved into an uninfested area. Still, they can also be a sign of poor ventilation or moisture accumulation within your home. Prevention includes routine inspection, paying attention to where you place your new furniture, and sealing off potential entry points with polyurethane foam.
When examining a piece of furniture for infestation, you should know the parts to explore, which include the joints between the different sections or pieces of wood, along with loose moldings or frames. If you’ve been noticing several small holes in your wood furniture, it could be an indicator that beetles are living within. Next, you should inspect the visible portions for signs such as tiny larvae or feces and try to track down any other possible entry points by looking around windowsills, doorways, baseboards, etcetera if necessary. Experts can help determine how best to prevent its spread through treatment and prevention methods.
How to Get Rid of Beetles in Your Home
There are many ways to get rid of these bugs from your home. The best way to begin is to identify what type of beetle you have and exterminate it accordingly. One way to do so is by using diatomaceous earth, a chemical pesticide that kills eggs and larvae. Diatomaceous earth is composed of microscopic diatoms which can kill insects when they rub against it. It works like tiny razor blades, cutting an insect’s exoskeleton and letting them die from dehydration.
It would be best to consider few things to get rid of the furniture beetles and their damage. The first thing that you should always do is ensure that your furniture is adequately dried. This goes for all types of wood, whether it is hardwood or softwood. If your furniture is damp, the Beatles are more likely to feed and nest in it.
After your furniture has dried, you can coat the insides of all cracks and crevices with paste boric acid. If this is not done, the larvae will continue to feed on wood even after covering with a product like diatomaceous earth or silica gel. It may take quite some time before you spot beetles in your home, but it is a good idea to continue inspecting your furniture regularly.
There are also natural ways to get rid of insects like covering the outside of your house with cedar wood chips, spraying apple cider vinegar, adding more garlic to your diet, and putting out anti-bug baskets or bugs zappers.
You may also want to consider using oil-based paints such as linseed oil, as well as pastes made from mineral oil or Vaseline. However, the Beatles will not like the smell of such colors and may not use your furniture as a food source. Using multiple techniques at once is highly recommended for best results.
Finally, cleanliness is one of the essential factors in getting rid of these insects. If you have areas where dead plant material tends to build up, it is best to remove these items before they decompose and attract beetles.
How to Kill Beetles in Your Yard
Beetles have several advantages over other lawn pests because they’re a more diverse group. In addition, you can kill them using natural remedies or by purchasing chemicals based insecticides.
Heating the wood to kill the beetles is one option that homeowners and professionals can use. The temperature will need to reach at least 122 degrees Fahrenheit for this method to work; more than one treatment might be necessary, depending on how much infestation is present. Some species of wood-boring beetles will move to the side where they are being heated, meaning that this treatment method can be time-consuming.
You can use chemicals like borax and other pesticides for small infestations of wood-boring beetles. These chemicals can help prevent new generations from emerging from their eggs if sprayed on the infested wood.
The most effective way to kill bugs is by using a combination of natural and chemical pesticides. Using both types will kill off all stages of the life cycle and prevent eggs from being laid.
To kill beetles you find in your yard, take all the leaves out of the plant they’re infesting before soaking the plant with water. You can also use whatever is available in your yard as an insecticide, such as soap, dishwashing detergent, or vegetable oil if this is a feasible option for you.
If you are in an environment with a climate that doesn’t change much, then your best bet is to spray the weeds in your yard with vegetable oil every few days. This will make it difficult for any larvae or beetles to survive long enough to grow and reproduce.
When Should You Call a Professional?
Wood Boring beetles are a common source of the infestation in homes, and if left untreated, the infestation can get overwhelming. The best way to keep them away is through prevention. There are some home remedies that you can try, but an exterminator should deal with any problems.
Call a pest control professional to get rid of wood-boring beetles when:
- You see any signs of damage (holes or frass) on your walls or other surfaces
- If you notice an unusual smell coming from inside your walls
- If you have noticed an increase in noise as well as activity inside the wall
These are signs that the wood-boring beetles have found a way to enter your home. The best thing you can do then is to call an exterminator for help.
Make sure you choose a professional who’s well experienced in treating infestations of wood-boring beetles and knowledgeable on the different prevention methods you can use to keep them away.