ally drop out through these holes when the wood is struck. The 
life cycle may require anywhere from 1 to 10 years for comple- 
tion, depending on the moisture and fungus content of the 
wood (460). 
The furniture beetle, Anobium punctatum (DeG.), an introduced 
species, occurs in southeastern Canada and in the Northeastern 
States near the Coast. It has also been found in scattered loca- 
tions south to the Gulf Coast of Texas and along the west coast 
of California. Adults are dark brown and about 2.7 to 4.5 mm. long. 
The metasternum is abruptly excavated in front and the elytra 
bear linear rows of punctures. Infestations occur in furniture and 
in the frames and flooring of buildings. Eggs are usually laid in 
slits, cracks, or crevices in the wood surface, or in old emergence 
holes. Damage appears to be most serious in old, partly decayed 
wood, or in old wood such as in antique furniture. The life cycle 
requires from 1 to 8 years. 
Xestobium rufovillosum (DeG.), commonly known as the death- 
watch beetle, is also an introduced species. It is now widely dis- 
tributed in the Northeastern States where considerable damage 
has been reported in many old buildings. Adults are robust and 
dark brown, mottled with patches of yellowish pubescence, and 
are about 6 to 7.5 mm. long. Both the sapwood and heartwood 
of hardwoods and softwoods are attacked. Poorly ventilated oak 
timbers in old buildings are especially subject to attack. The life 
cycle requires from one to several years. 
Hemicoelus carinatus (Say), sometimes known as the eastern 
death watch beetle, is widely distributed in the Northeastern and 
North Central States, but appears to be most abundant in New 
England and New York. It also occurs in southeastern Canada. 
The adult is about 3.4 to 6.8 mm. long. Infestations have been 
recorded in ash and basswood flooring in Ohio and Michigan, elm 
floor joists in Minnesota, maple and birch in Indiana, and in sills 
and flooring in Connecticut. Damage resembles that caused by 
Lyctus spp., but differs in that the emergence holes are larger 
and the frass coarser. H. gibbicollis, the softwood powder-post 
beetle, infests flooring and beams in buildings, and H. wmbrosus 
Fall. is sometimes a pest of furniture. 
Xyletinus peltatus (Harris) occurs from northern New York 
to Michigan, southeastward to Florida and southwestward to 
Arkansas. It attacks both the sapwood and heartwood of seasoned 
hardwoods and conifers. Adults are reddish-brown to brown and 
from 3.4 to 6.3 mm. long. Eggs are deposited in cracks or de- 
pressions in the wood surface or under small splinters or pieces 
of debris. Damage is similar to that caused by Lyctus species 
except that it occurs in both the sapwood and heartwood. It is 
usually confined to the springwood of each annual ring. Damage 
to joists and flooring in damp buildings is occasionally serious. In 
North Carolina it is the commonest species found infesting pine 
floor joists in buildings. In closed, unoccupied buildings, it may 
be so severe it causes the floors to collapse. X. lugubris LeC. has 
been observed in dead oak twigs in Ohio. 
®°Moore, H. B. 1964. Observations on the biology of Xyletinus peltatus 
(Harris) (Coleop,: Anobiidae) with notes on morphology. Unpub. PhD 
Thesis, Entomol. Dep. .. North Carolina State Univ. 
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