Woodworm identification advice from the woodworm specialists
12 June 2009
Meet “The Expert” – This man of mystery is an experienced consultant with a wealth of knowledge to share. In this article we look briefly at the different kinds of woodworm found in the UK and look at the different characteristics of them.
The term ‘woodworm’ is a generic term which covers attack by any wood boring insect. In the UK there are a number of wood-boring insects which can infect timbers in properties. However, others which attack trees and logs in forests and woodlands cannot infest or survive in seasoned timber but in such cases the ‘pre-attacked’ timber can be incorporated into buildings where it will present no problem as the infestation is no longer present.
Set out below are some details of wood boring insects which are most commonly encountered attacking seasoned timber in buildings and which, depending on their state, may need treatment.
Common Furniture beetle (Anobium punctatum)
In appearance, the Common Furniture Beetle is a small dark reddish brown beetle. Damage caused by the Common Furniture Beetle is by far the most common woodworm damage encountered. The beetles attacks sapwood of softwood and European hardwoods. The attack is most severe in damp and fast grown timbers.
The Common Furniture Beetle
Deathwatch beetle (Xestobium rufovillosum)
This beetle is a chocolate brown coloured insect with a variegated appearance due to the presence of patches of yellowish hairs. You are very likely to find the beetles during the emergence period – mid-March to end of June. Attacked wood is virtually always hardwood with some degree of decay, often by the white rot, Donkioporia expansa. Wood is usually oak. However, Deathwatch beetle will attack softwood if well rotted and in contact with infested hardwood. Deathwatch beetle is not usually found in Scotland or Northern Ireland.
Wood-boring Weevils (Euophryum confine and Pentarthrum huttoni)
The beetles are small and black in appearance. Wood-boring weevil damage is very common in damp skirting boards and embedded joist ends. Wood boring weevils are effectively a secondary pest in that the real problem is the dampness/decay.
Wood boring weevil
Powder Post beetle (Lyctus brunneus)
A mid reddish brown beetle the damage it makes looks similar to Common Furniture Beetle damage, the holes being of similar size.
Powder Post beetle
House Longhorn beetle (Hylotrupes bajulus)
A large beetle black to dark brown in colour with long antennae. This insect is VERY localised to the south-east of England, centred around the Camberley area. House Longhorn beetle can cause severe structural damage.
House Longhorn Beetle
As described above, some damage to wood may have been caused by ‘forest’ wood
boring insects. Even where timbers have been infected within a property some wood borers are regarded as innocuous and do not require treatment, and in some cases an infestation has simply died out.
At Timberwise all our surveyors are fully conversant with the wide range of wood boring insects found in the UK, and most important, whether the infestation needs a specialist woodworm treatment or not. We are fully aware of limiting preservative treatments to only those situations which are necessary, thus we only carry out works where is essential thereby minimising costs and disruption to the client but still maintaining the integrity of the timber.
If you suspect you have a woodworm infestation don’t panic! Call 0800 288 8660 to speak to one of our woodworm experts or click to arrange a survey.
Hi There, can someone contact me please about arranging a visit / consultation
I have a large old oak tree that has been cut into sections for about 2 – 3 years, quite dry wood, but recently while spliting into logs I have found (woodworms) white wiggly type characters about 2mm thick half inch of its body prodtruding from the wood.
Several of these have been found.
Logs have been thrown into a storage shed 30ft from any other buiding for storage and mixed with other logs previously stored (no apprarent worm sign was noticed in the original stored batch),
Do I have a problem?
Can you advise.
Thank you,
Peter Woods
I’m assuming that the timber has been kept outside in storage and not in the house.
Could be Common Furniture Beetle or one of several forest insects, timber at risk probably due to raised moisture content of timber.
Common problem when buying logs and as they dry out in log basket woodworm start to appear.
have a coffee table of asian origin, has reddish powder coming from it, shop wont deal with it as i have lost receipt??? can you suggest something to get rid of it, have tried baygon. thanks
Baygon is a general pestiicde and not sure if suitable or even approved for use against wood borers. How long have you had the table and what is it constructed of, i.e. type of timber.
Whilst you have dust emmerging have you found any insects?
PC
We had dust under our oak staircase and I noticed woodworm holes. I haven’t seen any for a while now. We also had a pine walking stick and that was attacked very badly so we threw it out. We have oak floorboards but they are interlocking so we can’t just lift one to check underneath for signs of woodworm infestation. We are worried that we may have an infestation quietly eating away at the supporting timbers etc. With interlocking floorboards, is it likely that inspections holes need to be made to check for woodworm and if woodworm is present and active, will the whole floor need to be taken up? Apart from the kitchen and utility room all our house has oak interlocking floorboards. Thanks for any advice you can give. Liz
Hi Liz
You dont state how old the house is which would be usefull. You also mention interlocking floorboards is this therfore modern oak flooring and is it laid over a conventional floor void. Perhaps you could give us some additional info and we can then respond further.
PC
Hello there, I have just bought a second-hand Indian coffee table/chest which seems to be made of hardwood. I noticed a few woodworm holes near one foot; when I looked inside, I saw many, many more on the insides of all of the 9 small drawers. They do look old to me; I can’t see fresh dust, although there were ‘plugs’ of soft wood material in about 2 of the holes (perhaps sawdust that had been there a while). What should I do – I don’t want to store the piece in my house if it has worm which will spread to my antique furniture. Thank you.
Hi Nelson
Obviously without seeing the peice of furniture its difficult to comment, but as you have indicated no signs of dust. Unless there is a risk that the table has come out of some form of cold / unheated storage I would guess that it is probably old woodworm. If in doubt undertake some targeted treatment of the draw linings and legs with a propritory woodworm treatment afterwhich continue to monitor.
PC
my coffee table pine v old, I believe has woodworm as it is going very pale in places, fresh dust etc…but I love it. What should I treat it with and will it infest any other wood furniture, which I am convinced is changing colour in places…help and thanks.
I recently bought a solid walnut bed which came with what were described as ‘old’ woodworm holes but as there were so many to be safe, I treated the whole bed with 5 star woodworm liquid. The bed has been sat in a spare downstairs room since for about 1 month or so and yesterday I saw 2 or 3 tiny corkscrew curls of wood underneath the bed on the floor. I have had a builder in there to fix lights so thought perhaps it was drill-hole remains but they were under the bed and really tiny. Do you know what could have caused them. Could it be woodworm that was left in the bed and has now escaped (I heard they migrate this time of year – but where too?), could it be new woodworm boreing in, or do you think it’s can’t be a wood boring insect due to it’s odd shape? I can’t identify where it’s come from on the bed as there are so many old holes that all look the same and some do have the odd bit of old sawdust inside them from previously, there is general dust under the bed but no clumps that I can identify. Thankyou I’d really appreciate peace of mind on this as it cost quite abit and I would like my daughter to use it in her bedroom but am scared of moving it upstairs if the woodworm come out and attack the floor boards. Thankyou.
Tamsin
You wouldn’t corkscrew curls of wood from CFB, if it is poosible to take a picture and send to me, this would help to provide a solution. As long as you have treated all sides for the timber frame of the bed if there was any worm inside , these would migrate out and come into contact with the chemical and die off. therefore you shouldn’t have anything to worry about.
hi we are putting on a new roof and have noticed some of the old wood have wood worm, we saved the insulation to reuse do you think we should throw it away and use new ? all the wood in the house has been taken out could the new would still become infested?
Are wood worm holes just below surface deep or how deep are they? I believe I have woodworm holes in my end tables and I recently found some in one of the boards of my hardwood floor. I had several terminators out and they told me Im nuts because the holes are not deep enough. I have a nice home with ALOT of wood. Wood floors, cabinets & woodwork. Very worried it is all being eaten up by woodworms. Home is 25 yrs old. Hardwoord floors are 5 yrs old. Tables 3 yrs old.
Hi
The holes that you can see are the exit points for the adult beetles. The hole itself may not be very deep as they tend to run off the tunnel made by the immature larva.The holes in the table and floor have probably been made by beetles that were already inside the wood when you bought it. Harwood can be infested with Powder Post Beetle in the timber yard before conversion to planks or furniture. The clear sign of new activity is fresh , clean looking holes and small piles of very fine powder/dust.The pale coloured sapwood edges of the flooring may show the most activity. If you are not sure if the holes are recent, work some solid beeswax into them and then wait for new ones to appear. Powderpost will emerge in spring and summer, generally but could come out at any time indoors. Furniture can usually be treated using a proprietary injector from a hardware shop. If it is powderpost beetle, they are not in any softwood.