Exact identification is critical when trying to determine the extent of the attack and the type of treatments required.
Common furniture beetle –Anobium punctatum
This insect is by far the most common.
Attacks sapwood of softwood and European hardwoods.
The attack is most severe in damp and fast-growing timbers.
Round holes approximately 1.5 – 2mm in diameter.
Tendency for tunnels to run with the grain.
Bore dust (frass) filled tunnels with lemon-shaped frass pellets.
An active attack will see small piles of clean-cut frass.
Deathwatch beetle –Xestobium rufovillosum
Attacked wood is virtually always hardwood.
Often, some degree of decay by the white rot, Donkioporia expansa.
Wood is usually oak.
Looks like a large Furniture beetle.
Round holes about 3mm in diameter.
Bore dust frass is ‘bun’ shaped.
The extent of the attack cannot be seen due to extensive boring under the surface.
Wood boring weevils –Pentarthrum huttoni,
Wood-boring weevil damage is very common in damp skirting boards and embedded joist ends.
Any clearly identifiable emergence holes are ragged and around 1mm in diameter.
Attack soft and hardwood which have rot.
Tunnels tend to run along grain, frequently breaking the surface.
House Longhorn beetle –Hylotrupes bajulus:
The House Longhorn beetle can cause severe structural damage to softwood.
Large OVAL emergence holes 6-8mm across.
LOTS of very loose frass with readily visible ‘sausage’ shaped pellets.
The insect is restricted to the SE of England, centred around Camberley, Surrey.
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