INSECT PESTS OF TIMBER 137 



country, having the appearance of being punc- 

 tured by innumerable shot holes, is in reality 

 wood which has been damaged by beetles. Most 

 commonly the culprits are either Xestobium 

 domesticum and X. tessellatum, the Death 

 Watches, or some member of the genus Lyctus. 

 It is a strange fact that many timber men, 

 even some of wide experience, are quite un- 

 aware of the fact that "wormy " wood (Fig. 83) 

 is the result of beetle attacks. There are many 

 who stUl assert that worms are the cause, with 

 the result that the real culprits, the beetles, 

 escape attention at their hands. 



Of the Hymenoptera certain tropical Carpenter 

 Bees of the genus Xylocopa do a considerable 

 amount of damage to timber, and the larvae of 

 the British Wood Wasps, Siricidce, are also wood 

 borers, though to their credit it may be said 

 that they favour decayed timber. 



Before passing to the fungoid pests of timber 

 we are constrained to mention a creature which 

 rivals even the White Ants in its damage to 

 wood.. We refer to the Shipworm, Teredo navalis. 

 A bivalve mollusc, with valves so small that 

 they may easily be overlooked, the adult Ship- 

 worm is from six to twelve inches long. It is a 

 marine creature and causes much havoc amongst 

 piles, ships' bottoms and all woodwork exposed 



