Pest Control is a problem for most Australian home owners. Many people are unaware of the damage termites and wood borers can cause to their home as well as their wooden furniture. There are many different kinds of wood borers that can be found on your property each leaving different signs of their existence as well as causing different types of damage.
Powder Post Borer
The powder post borer leave a talc like powder behind as they bore and eat their way through the wood. They are interested in the sapwood of hardwood and will weaken timber which can lead to serious structural damage. Pest control is required to avoid dangerous collapse caused by these insects.
Anobiid Borer
These types of wood borers will feed on furniture and there are two types that are most common: Common furniture beetles and Queensland pine beetles. Anobiid borers will leave behind more of a salty looking dust that is coarser than that left by the powder post borer. This type of wood borer will infest almost anything made of wood in the home. They will attack not only structural wood beams but everything from furniture to decorative wood detailing and timber flooring. This is because they favour seasoned wood and are partial to certain species of wood such as New Zealand white pine and Baltic pine. They do not seem to like eucalypts but will be attracted to some hardwoods such as English Oak and Blackwood. In Queensland the Queensland pine beetle poses a threat to softwoods such as Hoop pine. In some cases they will also attack Bunya and New Zealand pine. The most common areas of the home they will infest is the sub-floor.
Less Threatening Borers
There are many other species of borers that pose less of a threat to your home. These borers prefer to feed on fresh timber as well as living trees. When building on your property it is a good idea to purchase kiln dried wood as this will destroy borers. It is possible for larvae to survive the milling process which means they could emerge as adults. Even this will not cause issues in most cases as borers do not tend to reinfest wood from which adults have emerged.
In the case of lyctid borers the damage tends to leave pock like holes where they come in and out of the wood. These pock marks can be used to treat the wood with a borer fluid.
If you have an issues with termites and wood borers in your home Rip Pest Control offers the pest control you require. Visit www.rippestcontrol.com.au for more information.
