for months or years before they emerge 

 as adults beetles. Since the larvae never 

 come to the surface, their mining may 

 be extensive before it is noticed. 

 Perhaps for this reason, the circum- 

 stances in which wood becomes in- 

 fested are often regarded as mysterious. 

 Through research and experience, 

 however, the habits of the insects have 



become reasonably well known. This 

 leaflet answers questions frequently 

 asked about detection and control. It 

 is intended only as a general guide, 

 though. When unusual cases of dam- 

 age occur, the building owner should 

 seek advice from a university extension 

 entomologist, county agent, or pest 

 control operator. 



How Can I Tell If Beetles Are Present? 



If you see piles of very fine sawdust formed to adults and left the wood, 

 on or beneath wood, look for small Beneath the surface will be meander- 

 round or oval "shotholes" in the wood ing tunnels packed with fine powder 

 surface. These are exit holes, and indi- and sometimes containing white, 

 cate that some of the grubs have trans- wormlike larvae. 



I've Found The Damage, But Why Don't I Ever See The Beetles? 



The adults that make the exit holes they usually are present only during 

 range from l /% to 1 inch long, depend- April through July. Some of the com- 

 ing on their species. But they may not monest species are active chiefly at 

 be numerous, they are short-lived, and night. 



How Do Beetles Get Into a Building? 



Those that attack softwoods often fly 

 into the crawl spaces beneath buildings 

 and lay eggs on the exposed wood 

 there. The eggs hatch into tiny larvae 

 that bore below the surface and start 

 making tunnels in which they live and 

 feed. After a long larval period and a 

 much shorter pupal stage, the newly 

 formed adults chew the characteristic 

 shotholes and emerge to lay eggs for 

 another brood. After several genera- 

 tions, infestations that began in the 

 crawl space may spread into higher 

 parts of the house. 



The species that attack only hard- 

 woods are generally brought into the 

 building in wood that contains eggs 

 or larvae. The softwood feeders often 

 enter in the same way, and for this 

 reason new or used construction lum- 

 ber should be examined carefully be- 



PUPA 



1 TO 4 WEEKS. 



CHANGE FROM LARVA 



TO ADULT OCCURS 

 NEAR WOOD SURFACE 



LARVA 



1-V, MONTHS TO 



12 YEARS. 



FEEDING WITHIN WOOD 



F-521294 

 The larval or grub stage, in which the wood- 

 destroying beetles do their damage, is long 

 in proportion to the rest of the life cycle. 



