]() Ai'Ku.. mis. I Furniture and Timber Boring Insects. 221 



making for itself a separate burrow, in wliieh it remains until matured. 

 The borings and excrements from the wood are pushed out from the 

 original entrance by the borers, as they move backwards and forwards, 

 Avhich they must frequently do, both to clear the burrows and to enlarge 

 them to accommodate the increasing size of their bodies. Thus the 

 holes made by these insects are found to vary in size, and to extend 

 several feet through the wood. 



In its larval condition this insect is a thick ileshy grub, somewhat 

 curved and swollen at each end. It is of a whitish colour, as might 

 be expected in a creature which spends its time in the darkness of a 

 tunnel. The lar\^{e are very seldom seen, as in order to reach them, the 

 wood in w^hich they are domiciled must be pulled to pieces ; but various 

 chemicals may be used to penetrate through the wood in order to destroy 

 them. Their food consists of the wood itself, which by their pow^erful 

 though tiny jaws is bitten oil in minute particles, and many of these 

 are left uneaten, and either clog up the burrows or are ejected at their 

 openings, where they form the tiny heaps of yellow dust previously 

 mentioned. Xo wood is so old and dry that they cannot extract 



Pin-hole Borer (Anoldum domcsticum) . 

 (Enlarged fourtei'u times.) 



nourishment from it — in fact, the older and drier it is, the better they 

 like it. The pin-hole borer changes into a chrysalis in its burrow, and 

 envelops itself in a silken cocoon, in which are interwoven particles of 

 the dust made by the insect. The tunnels made by the pin-hole borer 

 are about twice the size of those made by the furniture borer, and look 

 as if they had been burnt out. At times the pin-hole borer .bores right 

 through the timber, the holes often being so straight that a sti-ing could 

 easily be passed through the openings for several inches. When found 

 in woodw^ork out of doors, the direct damage caused by actual excava- 

 tion and devouring of the wood by insects of this kind is not the only 

 injury for which they are responsible, for damp air enters the substance 

 of the wood through the burrows, and meeting there the excrement, 

 stored in great quantities, the tunnels become good bases for the growth 

 of fungi, whereby the decay is rapidly accelerated. Pin-hole borers 

 have been known to attack redgum, mahogany, beech, oak, deal, and red 

 pine. I fully agree with Mr. J. Mann, of the University, who has 

 carefully studied the borer question, that very few timbers are totally 

 immune from the attacks of these insects. The prevention and remedies 

 recommended for the furniture borer will suffice for this species also. 



