Pest Control CT: The Old House Borer
Pest Control CT: The Old House Borer: These are fairly large beetles with fairly large larvae that tunnel and feed inside wood. Compared to powderpost beetles that also feed in wood in CT, the old house borer leaves a large, oval exit hole (more than 1/4 inch diameter) when it emerges from the wood.
The adult beetle belongs to the “longhorned beetle” group, so called because of their long antennae. The old house borer is gray-brown with light gray hairs on its body, except for two shiny raised areas on its thorax, and is about one inch long. Adult beetles emerge from the exit holes in wood in July and August and may make their way to nearby windows or lights. It’s the beetle larvae, though, that do the feeding damage.
Old house borer larvae are off-white, legless grubs that are about one inch long when fully grown. They tunnel through CT wood as they feed, leaving behind powdery frass (feces). They have large mandibles that do the gnawing, leaving the side walls of the tunnels with a wavy appearance. You can actually hear a rasping, clicking sound from the larvae chewing in the wood. If you hear that sound, it means you are dealing with larger larvae that have been feeding and growing for 3-4 years.
The name old house borer is not he best name for this beetle because it is mainly a pest of new CT homes, those less than 10 years old. The infestation starts when the female beetle lays eggs in felled logs or in wood stored in a lumberyard. She chooses well-seasoned pine, fir, or spruce, but never hardwoods.
The infested wood then gets used for framing lumber or joists in a structure. Infestations can occur anywhere in a building—in walls, attics, basements, or crawlspaces. The larvae feed for an average of 2 to 6 years inside the wood before emerging as adult beetles.
If you have a confirmed active infestation, meaning you have seen adult beetles or fresh exit holes, hear chewing sounds, or have noticed wood with a blistered or bulging surface, you should consider a professional treatment. Because old house borer larvae are large and feed for such a long time, they can do considerable damage. Most infestations remain localized and are limited to the one generation of emerging beetles, but if your CT basement has high enough moisture levels, the beetles can reinfest and continue to cause damage after the first generation.
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