Powderpost Beetle (6405)

Powderpost beetles breed in dead and dried hardwoods such as the dead branches and limbs of trees. Their presence is overlooked until they are discovered in stored lumber, rafters, joists, finished wood, and furniture products. As a rule, they enter lumber while it is being stored and cured, then later, emerge from the finished product. Old items of furniture and wood antiques are especially vulnerable to attack by the beetles.

Powderpost beetles are small, brown insects usually less than 1/4-inch in length that attack seasoned hard-woods. A certain sign of their presence is numerous small holes about 1/16-to 1/8-inch in diameter and a fine, powder-like sawdust in flooring, paneling, furniture, and other wood materials. The dust results from the boring of the larvae. The holes are the openings through which the adult beetles emerge.

For more information, please visit this Penn State Fact Sheet.

Printable PDF file

Penn State Entomology Dept.

For more information on this subject, Please visit the College of Agricultural Sciences Publications Web site.

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