By Sharon Omahen

University of Georgia

Many homeowners dream of installing hardwood flooring. But they
don’t dream of repairing the damage caused by tiny beetles that
can stow away in the wood.

“Each year I get about 10 calls from people who have powder post
beetles in their hardwood floors, picture frames, bannisters or
molding,” said Dan Suiter, an entomologist with the University of
Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

“They’ve figured out it’s insect damage,” Suiter said. “And they
call me to find out which insect and what to do about it.”

Scientists i.d. hundreds each year

Each year UGA entomologists identify hundreds of insect samples
forwarded to them by county extension agents across the state.

One culprit is the powder-post beetle, an
insect that typically emerges from wood as an adult in winter
months. The homeowner may have just spotted the beetle, but
Suiter said it had actually been living inside the wood for a
year or more.

The adult beetle lays its eggs on unfinished wood. The larva
borrows into the wood, molts several times, becomes a pupa and
emerges a year or so later as an adult.

“To emerge, the adult has to chew itself out of the wood,” Suiter
said. “When it does, it defaces the wood because it now has small
holes in it. And the homeowner begins to notice the holes and a
powder residue.”

The holes are typically 1/16 to 1/32 of an inch in diameter, and
the powder resembles baby powder.

Either remedy’s costly

The beetles enter the wood shortly after it’s processed and
before a finish has been applied. “Wood finish actually deters
the female beetle from laying eggs,” Suiter said.

There are several groups of powder-post beetles, but the lyctid
powder-post beetle infests only hardwoods.

“The lyctid beetle causes the most problems to people because its
food source is hardwood,” he said. “And unlike most insects, the
life cycle of these beetles is measured in years because wood
isn’t a good source of nutrition. The beetles compensate for the
poor nutritional quality by having lengthy life cycles.”

If these beetles are feeding on your hardwood floors, Suiter
said, getting rid of them can be costly.

“The most economically feasible remedy is to replace the wood,”
he said. “Check with the hardwood supplier to be sure the
purchase carries wood replacement insurance, which may be needed
in the unlikely event of a lyctid infestation.”

If you plan to install a hardwood floor, Suiter recommends making
sure the installer is insured against powder-post beetle
infestations.

The second remedy is to fumigate the beetles.

“Fumigating can be incredibly expensive, too,” Suiter said. “I’m
not sure which one is more expensive, fumigating or replacing the
floor. I don’t know how common this beetle problem is, but if it
happens to you it’s going to put you in a big, big bind.”

They love antiques, too

Apparently, the beetles aren’t just partial to hardwood floors.
Suiter recently identified them for an antique shop owner in Blue
Ridge, Ga.

“We have a haven of antique shops here. And one of the shop
owners called me about small holes appearing in his carved
bears,” said Eddie Ayers, the UGA Extension Service county agent
in Fannin County.

“Dr. Suiter verified the beetles and told us how to treat them,”
Ayers said. “Left untreated, they could have entered the wooden
buildings in this area, caused damage to other shop owners and
damaged the antique seller’s business reputation.”

Ayers said the shop owner shared the beetle discovery with the
area’s downtown association, other antique vendors and the
company who sold him the antiques.

The store owner was elated to have it handled before the beetles
made their way into his building.

“Identifying the problem quickly prevented him from selling
defective woodwork, which would have affected his sales down the
road,” said Ayers.