Pest Library
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All it takes is one pest sighting to ruin the reputation you’ve worked so hard to build.
False (or large) Powderpost Beetle
Bostrichid
The Bostrichid beetle moves into wood to lay eggs. Inside buildings, they will lay eggs in furniture, where the larvae eat and pupate in the wood. Because of this damage, the wood becomes fragile and unusable.
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 | Bostrichidae | |
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| Size: | Powderpost beetle (bostrichid) adult is 1/16-1 in (2-24 mm ); one western species is 2 in (52mm) long. Most found indoors are 1/8-1/4 in (3-6 mm) long. Mature larvae are 1/4-3/8 in (5-8mm) long. |
| Color: | Adults are reddish brown to black. Larvae are nearly white. |
| Characteristics: | Most species are long and cylinder shaped, with rasp-like teeth, heads going downward, so not easy to see from above. A few species have flat bodies, no rasp-like teeth, and heads easy to see from above; antennal club has 3-4 segments, often enlarged to one side. Larvae are C-shaped with enlarged thorax; legs are hairy with 4 segments. |
| Geographic Range: | Around the world; about 60 species in the United States. |
| Food: | Bostrichid larvae feed on wood cell contents, which is mainly starch, with some protein and sugar. They cannot digest cellulose. |
| Biology: | Unlike anobiids and lyctids, female bostrichids bore into wood, making tunnels across the grain of the wood before laying eggs in wood pores. Larvae tightly pack their mealy frass into the tunnel behind them as they bore through the wood. After molting several times, a mature larva bores closer to the surface, makes a chamber, and pupates. The emerging adult bores to the surface and exits. Development from egg to adult usually takes 1 year. For some species that breed in partially seasoned wood, it may take up to 5+ years in fast drying wood. |
- Look for round exit holes with diameter of about 1/8-1/4 in (2.5-7 mm), accompanied by piles of powdery frass without pellets.
- Identify correct beetle family (and sometimes species).
- Identify on the basis of the type and age of wood, type of product damaged, exit hole size and shape, frass, and wood moisture, since these insects are rarely seen.
- Have professional inspection to determine activity.