Powderpost Beetles: The Termites of Furniture
Found tiny holes in your wood floor with pile of powder? It's Powderpost Beetles. Learn why they destroy furniture and how to treat them.
Everyone worries about termites eating the house framing. But what eats your hardwood floors, your antique cabinets, and your oak barn beams? Powderpost Beetles.
These guys are the second most destructive wood-destroying insect in the US.
The Sign: Shot Holes
Look closely at your wood. Do you see tiny round holes, about the size of a pencil lead?
Now look below the hole. Is there a pile of fine, flour-like powder? That isn't sawdust. That is wood that has passed through the digestive tract of a beetle larva. We call it "frass."
Why They Are Bad
Termites need moisture. Powderpost beetles love dry, seasoned wood.
The female lays eggs in the pores of the wood. The larvae hatch and burrow deep inside. They can live in there for 1 to 5 years, eating the wood hollow, before they chew their way out as adults.
By the time you see the exit holes, the damage inside is already massive.
Treatment is Hard
Spraying the surface does nothing. The larvae are deep inside.
If it's a piece of furniture? Freeze it or fumigate it. If it's your flooring? You usually need to sand off the finish and apply a penetrating borate treatment (like Bora-Care) that soaks deep into the wood fibers.