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Deathwatch Beetle
Anobiid
These beetles invade buildings in the spring, laying their eggs and targeting older wood furniture. These creatures are able to do considerable damage once inside.
RISK LEVEL:
LOW
MEDIUM
HIGH
Risk is defined as how much damage each pest can be to you, your family, or your home
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| Class: | Order: | Family: | |
| Insecta | Coleoptera | Anobiidae | |
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| Size: | Deathwatch beetle (anobiid) adults are 1/32-3/8 in (1.1-9 mm) long; those in structures are usually 1/8-1/4 in (3-7 mm) long. Mature larvae are up to about 1/2 in (11 mm) long. |
| Color: | The adult deathwatch beetle is reddish brown to nearly black, sometimes with areas of pale hairs. Larva is nearly white. |
| Characteristics: | Deathwatch beetle (anobiid) adults are 1/32-3/8 in (1.1-9 mm) long; those in structures are usually 1/8-1/4 in (3-7 mm) long. Mature larvae are up to about 1/2 in (11 mm) long. |
| Geographic Range: | Deathwatch beetles (anobiids) are found around the world, with 310 species in the United States. |
| Food: | Studies indicate that anobiids, unlike bostrichids and lyctids, can digest wood cellulose, due to yeast cells in their digestive tracts. |
| Biology: | Nocturnal. Female deathwatch beetles (anobiids) lay their 20-60 eggs in cracks, in old exit holes, and under surface splinters of wood. After hatching the larvae bore against the woodgrain a ways, then turn and go along the grain, packing their frass and fine wood fragments into the tunnel behind them. In a softwood (conifer) this mixture feels gritty due to the shape of the pellets; in a hardwood (broadleaf) the mixture is tightly packed and not gritty. With each larval molt and for pupation the tunnel is made wider. The adult bores straight to the surface of the wood to exit. (This differs from bostrichids, which bore almost to the surface first before pupating.) The adult does not feed, but looks for a mate. Development from egg to adult takes 1 year in good conditions, but often 2-3+ years indoors. |
- Round exit holes, diameter 1/16-1/8 in (1.6-3.2 mm) with piles of gritty powder nearby.
- Spring: new exit holes.
- Summer: new holes, adults present.
- Fall: larvae still active inside wood.