Wood Borers: Boring their way into our home

There was Bronze Age, Copper Age, Iron Age and many other eras during which images (12)the use of one material was prominent. After a particular era the importance of the precious material has toned down. Wood however is the only material which still has its important status since time immemorial. Although the wood has been replaced by metals, polymer, ceramic and other materials in many applications, wooden artifacts are still considered of great value. We still find people who fill their beloved homes with wooden furniture to make it beautiful and more authentic.

Wood is one of the oldest friends of man and is always found in proximity to download (2)them in the form of bed, dinner table, chairs, grandfather’s clock, grandpa’s arm chair and many more. Loving and decorating our homes with wooden furniture is fine but protecting them from some of the vile species is of utmost importance. Species which were meant to help environment by giving a hand in biodegradation of wood have actually now become a big menace. Species like termites, carpenter ants, etc. attack healthy wood and have the capability to turn them into dust. Apart from termites and carpenter ants, we also have wood boring beetles that vilify the wood.

About three hundred different species of wood-boring beetles are known to occur in our domestic woodwork indoors, but of these only seven are of frequent occurrence, and it is to the larval or grub stage that we apply the description images (11)‘woodworm’. Woodboring beetles are commonly detected a few years after new construction. There are three groups of wood-boring beetles—powderpost, deathwatch, and false powderpost.

Many different types of wood structures and commodities have been damaged by these wood borers. Timber, planks, musical instruments, and wood carvings are the examples of the commodities damaged.

The wood borers especially powder post beetles do significant damage to wooden commodities, much more than that done by carpenter ants. The damage is done by the larvae that feed and reduce the wood to a fine powder or mass of small pellets and create narrow, meandering tunnels in the wood.

After the adult female emerges, she seeks other open-grained wood and deposits images (8)an egg in a pore. After hatching, the larvae eat their way into the wood, completing the cycle in about one year. This process may be repeated on the same piece of wood one quarter to one half inch from the emergence of the hole. Wood finishes: varnish, paint and waxes prevent an infestation. However, the insects already inside the wood will continue to thrive and eventually will emerge through the treated surface.

images (4)The lumber supply may have contained wood infected with beetle eggs or larvae, and since beetle life cycles can be one or more years, several years may pass before the presence of beetles becomes noticeable. In many cases, the beetles will be of a type that only attacks living wood, and thus incapable of “infesting” any other pieces of wood, or doing any further damage.

There are several indicators that wood-boring beetles are present. Probably the images (5)most common sign of a wood-boring beetle infestation is the presence of holes chewed by the adult beetles upon emergence. Another indicator is a powdery material called frass that beetles often produce while feeding. Frass is plant fragments made by a wood-boring insect; it is usually mixed with excrement. The beetles push the frass from the holes they have made in the infested wood. This frass usually gets piled below the holes or in cracks in structures. The consistency of the frass ranges from very fine to coarse, depending on the species.

Wood_Destroying_InsectsSometimes an infestation is indicated by the presence of wood-boring beetle adults. Adult beetles that emerge in confined structures are attracted to lights or windows and may accumulate at these locations.

Other signs of an infestation include stained wood or a blistering appearance on the wood surface caused by larvae tunneling just below the surface. Less commonly, immature beetles produce audible rasping or ticking sounds while chewing on the wood. These chewing sounds are most often heard during quiet times at night.

To stop this night time chirping steps have to be taken at root level i.e. the lumber from which the wooden commodities are made should be protected from these borers. To curb this problem of the wood borer, a unique solution in contrast to the typical hazardous, non-effective has to be adopted. And there is a solution,
a Green solution provided by C Tech Corporation: TERMIREPEL™. Termirepel™ is a non-toxic, non-hazardous and environment friendly product, with a high efficacy to repel insects like wood borers from the wood. Termirepel™ is a multitasking product; along with wood borer it protects the wood from vicious termites, notorious carpenter ants and other insects. Termirepel™ in solution form can be injected at high pressure in the lumber so as to prevent the infestation. It is also available in lacquer form which can be applied on the furniture, patios, floor as coating so as to prevent further infestation.