Woodworm

The Hole Truth

 "Got tight last night on absinthe and did knife tricks. Great success shooting the knife into the piano. The woodworms are so bad and eat hell out of all furniture that you can always claim the woodworms did it.”

--Ernest Hemingway

A pest infestation can be the bane of any homeowner’s existence, especially when the offender in question can do as much property damage as Ernest Hemingway on a bender.

Woodworms—also known as woodborers, deathwatch beetles, furniture beetles and timber beetles—are one of those pests, and it’s truly uncanny how such a small insect can radically compromise the structural integrity of one’s home.

Woodworms are not actually worms at all. They are a class of beetle, generally reddish-brown in colour, about 5 millimetres in length and able to fly. Found most often outside the home during humid summer months, they feed on flowers’ nectar.

You’ll seldom detect woodworms inside your home until you spot the tiny holes (about 1 to 2 millimetres in diameter) their strong jaws leave in your wooden furniture, accompanied by minute piles of wood dust that are created as they bore their way through.

As woodworms emerge from a cherished chair or beloved antique desk, they mate. The female starts to lay eggs, spawning the next generation of petite plunderers. These larvae, also known as “grubs,” hatch in roughly 35 days and immediately begin to take up where their parents left off. The process of burrowing through your wood can take a painstaking three years, at which point they emerge as adults and repeat the reproductive cycle. Larvae are responsible for most of the damage associated with woodworms.

When facing a woodworm infestation, promptly contact a pest-control specialist. You’re dealing with more woodworms than you can possibly see, as they hide in the walls, panelling and floorboards of wooden homes—particularly in older structures. There is no way you can locate and eradicate an entire population without the help of an experienced exterminator.

In extreme cases, woodworms will seriously damage the structure of your home, resulting in major property loss and potential injury from the consequent instability. A trained professional’s eye is required to assess the extent of the destruction. A Pest Control Professional will determine the magnitude, form a plan for insect eradication and use pesticides that effectively penetrate wood to ensure woodworms at all stages of the life cycle—from larvae to adults—are killed.

Once your woodworm infestation is under control, it’s vital to practice prevention:

• Carefully inspect antique or second-hand furniture before making a purchase. (Ironically, tiny insect-created holes are often used to authenticate an antique’s age and value.) Bringing home second hand furniture is a common cause of woodworm infestation, so have it professionally treated with an appropriate preservative.
• Don’t assume a coat of paint will kill larvae and prevent future problems. Given time, they will prove you wrong.
• Protect all of the wood in your home. You can purchase wood treatment products at local hardware stores.
• Woodworms also enter homes through windows or doors located in close proximity to trees. If you believe a nearby tree is infested, have your pest-control specialist inspect it to confirm or deny your suspicions. Affected trees can be treated and salvaged.
• Store firewood, lumber and other wood sources away from your home’s walls and foundation.
• If you have a wood patio, deck or fence, inspect it regularly for telltale holes and wood dust.

Comments

[T]

Just found woodworm in an old radio that was stored in the attic...found two piles of dust on the chipboard it was resting on and one dead 'beetle'... i have dumped the radio and checked for any other tell tale signs... none found... what should I do next or do I have to wait a few years and keep checking in the meantime.. is there a solution I can apply to the timbers...I know... alot of timber in a converted attic!! house is ten years old by the way...
Thanks T

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Hi T
Good post about woodworm.
You have learned a valuable lesson about attic storage! Hoarding stuff in attics is pointless. You see, you just threw out that old radio anyway. Ive been in hundreds of attics and most of the time all that is stored up there is junk that should have been thrown out anyway. Sorry for the rant, your post struck a nerve. Back to the woodworm. Personally, I would not introduce old timber products into the attic for the very reason you have outlined. You have removed the offending item so thats good. My advice is to hang a couple of vapona strips in the attic for the next 12 months. this should kill adult woodworm if or when they emerge from the attic joists. Treating the joists yourself may be overkill at this point. Use a felt tip pen to highlight the current woodworm holes and inspect the attic this time next year and see if there are any new holes. If not you are clear (and lucky). If there are new holes, don't panic. Make contact with us and we can put you in touch with a good surveyor.
Hope this helps
Tom Emergency Pest Control Ireland

[Rebe]

I you've killed all the beetles. Found the source of them a wooden bowl from Bolivia, and dumped it. How can you tell if they're still around? I haven't any unpolished wood in the room they were in. Would there be dust piles left by the larvae burrowing into the wood or holes? So far none of this (just contained to the bowl, that was in a plastic bag. The majority of the beetles died in that. Only 30 or so got out, and I killed them.
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Thats great news!
Chances are that these Bolivian Beetles would not live here in Ireland so should be all OK. Jusk be vigilant
Tom, Emergency Pest