Signs of a wood borer infestation

How to Identify Signs of Wood Borers

You may not realise that you have a wood borer problem until the damage becomes visible, so an early identification is the key before more harm is caused.

Wood borer lifecycle

There are four stages of wood borer development:

• Egg — Adult beetles will lay in cracks of wooden objects, floorboard and timbers.
• Larva — Once hatch, they immediately burrow through the timber, making it very unlikely they would be seen. They safely hide inside the wood, continue to tunnel and feed on wood for several years.
• Pupa — Once larva matured and increase in size, they bore towards wood surface to pupate.
• Adult — Emerge as adult on wood surface.

Signs of wood borers

• Eggs - found in cracks of wooden objects, floorboards and timbers.

• Wood borer larvae - usually a creamy-white colour and curved in shape.

• Bore dust / frass - caused by emerging adult beetles, usually visible below the infested wood.

• Weak and damaged floorboards - in extreme cases, a foot or chair leg going through the floor can indicate a more serious problem.

• Crumbling wood - around corners or edges of floorboards.

• Tunnels in the wood - also known as 'galleries' which are often hard to see.

• Dead borers - usually found near the infested wood or around nearby windowsills.

• Exit holes on wood - round or oval shaped with sharp edges, the holes will appear clean and fresh.

Have you noticed these signs?

Regular inspections and monitoring will help to identify a problem early to ensure fast and effective solutions for wood borer infestation. This will help to reduce the risks of long term damage to your building structural and wooden items.

Rentokil PCI pest experts approach provides rigorous protection for your property.

• Expert inspection — of your home or business
• Wood borer species identification — enables the right solution to target the invading wood borer species
• Professionally qualified technicians — will conduct routine visits to correctly identify your pest problems and provide the best solutions
• Safe and targeted treatments — our extensive knowledge means we can provide you with targeted and effective treatment to get rid of wood borer.

Find out more about our treatment programme and call Rentokil PCI expert today at 1800-212-212-5 for your home.