John Dirks Jr Posted June 6, 2011 Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 The photo is of a beetle type that is showing up on my kitchen counters. Looks like a wood boring type. Can any of you identify which type of beetle this is? How do I get rid of them? They're about an 1/8 of an inch in length. Click to Enlarge 28.11 KB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Jones Posted June 6, 2011 Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 John, What is the actual color of that beetle. I have heard of using borate products to get rid of wood boring beetles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted June 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 John, What is the actual color of that beetle. I have heard of using borate products to get rid of wood boring beetles. That picture is the actual beetle. Darkish brownish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Jones Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 Just doesn't resemble any of the wood borers I have ever seen. Just about all if not all of the wood borers I have seen are two segmented. Check out the "blister" beetle and see if that might be it. Any holes or frass? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AHI in AR Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 Uh Oh...That's the Eastern Pacific Rim six-legged beetle. It only attacks recently renovated kitchens where the homeowner agonized over structural and decorative decisions. The beetle senses the stress and homes in on the location. You're screwed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted June 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 Maybe one of these? Click to Enlarge 19.36 KB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Jones Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 The head doesn't resemble any of those. In your pic in the first post, is the back of the thorax(second section) ridged? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted June 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 Uh Oh...That's the Eastern Pacific Rim six-legged beetle. It only attacks recently renovated kitchens where the homeowner agonized over structural and decorative decisions. The beetle senses the stress and homes in on the location. You're screwed. [] Actually, since you mention the recent project, she said they began to show up just prior to the renovation but now they are much worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted June 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 The head doesn't resemble any of those. In your pic in the first post, is the back of the thorax(second section) ridged? Ok, I'm gettin' out the microscope now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Jones Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 Check out this site I just found. Go down to the Lyctidae pic. Is that it? http://www.zin.ru/ANIMAliA/COlEOPTERA/eng/m_smirn1.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted June 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 The head doesn't resemble any of those. In your pic in the first post, is the back of the thorax(second section) ridged? Yes, faint ridge in the middle of the thorax and serated like a saw blade on the sides of the thorax. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted June 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 Check out this site I just found. Go down to the Lyctidae pic. Is that it? http://www.zin.ru/ANIMAliA/COlEOPTERA/eng/m_smirn1.htm Thats the closest comparison I've seen yet. Could be. Powderpost beetle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 Maybe one of these? Click to Enlarge 19.36 KB I vote 'A', Lyctus planicollis LeConte...'One of the true powderpost beetles of the family Lyctidae' says Pest Control Operations, Bennett Corrigan Owens, 5th edition. Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kibbel Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 It looks very much like a lyctid PPB and 1/8" long is just the right size. Are the ends of the antenna clubbed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted June 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 It looks very much like a lyctid PPB and 1/8" long is just the right size. Are the ends of the antenna clubbed? Yes, segmented with clubs on the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kogel Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 We have a powder post beetle here in the west that attacks old roughcut beams in damp old basements. I suspect the Eastern variety is larger. These ones we have leave tiny holes with powdered frass piles when they emerge. Check the beams and flooring in your basement. Don't worry about you new kitchen. They will be in the old wood. Click to Enlarge 40.56 KB Click to Enlarge 50.76 KB A pest control guy went in and treated this floor with something, probably Borate. It only works on the emerging adults. The larvae can hang out in the tunnels for years before they become adults and venture out to lay eggs. On the optimistic side, maybe you've just got them in your firewood? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hausdok Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 No, We don't have powder post beetles in the west - we have death-watch beetles. Powder post beetles are lychtids, which is what he's got there, death-watch beetles are annobiidae - almost identical in size to the PPB, causes almost identical damage but is a completely different race of beetles. It is true; they can mature inside the wood for years before they emerge, but both lychtids and annobiidae can be knocked back using a penetrating borate mixture such as BoraCare that soaks deep into the wood and literally poisons their food source. Well, not poison really - borates give them an impossible case of constipation and they are too brainless to know to stop eating so they continue to eat until they literally blow themselves apart. It requires about 3 - 4 treatments a season to get each clutch of eggs before they hatch and bore too deep. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Baird Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 I had some holes appear in SYP flooring, bought as #1 Common. My termite guy came all the way over to see and said not to worry, powder post beetle takes 2-10 yrs to emerge, and once you see the hole, they are gone. I guess my flooring was not kiln dried. A friend built a cabin from sawmill beams log cabin style, and the same pest guy said it was the worst infestation he'd ever seen, but they did not treat it. That was almost twenty years ago, and the house is still sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 I've recommended the replacement of the entire structural floor (basically a death sentence) of quite a few raised-floor old homes in my part of Louisiana because of damage done by PP beetles. They do much more damage than subterraneans because their presence is concealed until the exit holes appear, on the girders, joists, sub-floor and all. It's a silent epidemic here. Everyone treats preventively for subterraneans, it's required by law on new construction, but no one treats for PP until there's a problem, so the insects have prospered. Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kogel Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 No, We don't have powder post beetles in the west - we have death-watch beetles. Powder post beetles are lychtids, which is what he's got there, death-watch beetles are annobiidae - almost identical in size to the PPB, causes almost identical damage but is a completely different race of beetles. It is true; they can mature inside the wood for years before they emerge, but both lychtids and annobiidae can be knocked back using a penetrating borate mixture such as BoraCare that soaks deep into the wood and literally poisons their food source. Well, not poison really - borates give them an impossible case of constipation and they are too brainless to know to stop eating so they continue to eat until they literally blow themselves apart. It requires about 3 - 4 treatments a season to get each clutch of eggs before they hatch and bore too deep. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike Thanks, Mike. It sounds like the term is mis-used by people here then, such as this pest control company.http://www.pestvictoria.com/insects-and ... eetles.htm I agree the beetles we have are a different bunch, but I probably should start calling them by their real names, or just 'wood-boring beetles". Death by BoraCare sounds like it would be painful but only for a minute or two leading up to the big bang. [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted June 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2011 I found the source. I built a workbench from rough cut oak 15+ years ago. It's on an enclosed attached porch just off of the kitchen. After emerging from the workbench legs, the beetles are traveling through the porch rafters and into the house attic where they drop down the walls and through the gaps behind the cabinets. They're just now coming out of the legs. You mean they can lay dormant that long? Click to Enlarge 82.45 KB Click to Enlarge 53.99 KB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Jones Posted June 8, 2011 Report Share Posted June 8, 2011 That's a nice first pic. Really show's the exit holes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted June 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2011 Here's another even closer. Some holes are vaccant and others tucked with powder. Click to Enlarge 61.87 KB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidlord Posted June 8, 2011 Report Share Posted June 8, 2011 Looks like a sawtoothed grain beetle to me. The pointed projections on the sides makes me think so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Jones Posted June 8, 2011 Report Share Posted June 8, 2011 Damn it David. I had to look that one up as I had never heard of it. I think your right. http://crawford.tardigrade.net/bugs/BugofMonth28.html http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... philus.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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