Borer

Borer - Anobium punctatum

Also known as: Furniture Beetle, Woodworm Beetle, Bora Beetle

House borer (both Anobium punctatum and the native Leanobium flavomaculatum) is a pest of major economic importance in New Zealand, the significance of which is not yet adequately recognised. As New Zealand houses get older the damage to timbers accumulates and attacked timbers become progressively weaker. It is not uncommon for weatherboards, floorboards, joists and other structural timbers to need replacing due to weakness caused by borer. The holes and labyrinths created by borer larvae also allow water to penetrate many timbers and increases rot by fungi.

You may not notice the beetles except when they collect on the window sills or corners of the rooms in your house, but you will notice the tell tale flight holes in the surface of weatherboards, wooden furniture, panelling, skirting, doors and door frames, eaves, window frames etc. It is also wise to check the sub-floor and roof timers of your house for signs of borer infestation, it is in these structural timbers that they can do the greatest harm to your house.

The larvae (woodworm), after 2 - 4 years spent tunnelling inside the wood will exit as the adult beetle via a round hole 1 - 2mm in diameter. Cutting out this trapdoor is their final wood destroying act. They emerge in order to breed, will not eat any more timber and will die within 3 - 4 weeks.

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How to Get Rid of Borer from Your House

Treatment of timbers to remove borer infestation is the same for whichever species is present.

1. Treat any bare wood with solvent based NO Borer Concentrate or NO Borer Ready to Use. Solvent based insecticides using turpentine or kerosene will penetrate deep into the timber and will kill larvae as they eat the wood. The insecticide also prevents adults laying eggs on the surface. In normal circumstances this will protect the wood for many years.
2. The solvents used to carry insecticide deep into the timbers will leave a solvent smell for some days. Ventilation will help to dissipate the odour.
   In areas where the smell would be unacceptable there are water based options such as NO Borer Ready to Use Trigger Spray but these do not penetrate as deeply and will not give as good long term control.
3. Inject flight holes in painted, varnished or polished timbers with NO Borer Aerosol Injection Fluid. This comes supplied with a nozzle for fitting into the flight holes. The aerosol forces insecticide into the labyrinth created by the borer larva, killing any larva in the labyrinth or nearby. It also prevents adult beetles laying eggs in the flight hole.
4. During each flight season (October-May) set off NO Bugs Borafume borer bombs in roof voids and sub-floor areas. These knock down adult beetles that would lay eggs on the exposed timbers and give some protection to the surface of the timbers.
5. Borer prefer timber that has some moisture in it. Ensure that your sub-floor is dry and well ventilated. Check for plumbing leaks and unblock all air vents. Check for leaks in the roof and if you have old terracotta or concrete tiles. These can act like sponges soaking up water and increasing the relative humidity of roof voids. Check that tiles are well sealed with NO Leaks Masonry Sealer or NO Leaks Red Brick and Terracotta sealer to prevent moisture penetration.

How to Get Rid of Borer from Your Furniture

1. Furniture is often polished, varnished, painted or otherwise sealed. Solvent based borer fluid may damage polish and varnish or paint will prevent penetration of insecticide. Polish, paint, varnish or other sealant would need stripped prior to use of NO Borer Concentrate or NO Borer Ready to Use.
2. If stripping is not an option then injection of all flight holes with NO Borer Aerosol Injection Fluid, taking care to promptly wipe off any fluid that spills on the surface, will kill eggs and larvae prevent re-infestation via the flight holes.
3. Check and repeat on any new flight holes found during the flight season for at least three years.
4. If the furniture is a particularly valuable piece it might be worth contacting a fumigation  specialist for treatment with methyl bromide in a sealed vessel or container. This is an expensive process but can eradicate all borer in 24 hours. However, there is no ongoing protection of the furniture and re-infestation would be possible if the furniture is kept where borer beetles can access it.

This combination of treatment will protect your home and your investment.

NO BUGS BORAFUME FUMIGATOR

This fumigator is activated by a reaction between water and the chemical inside the Borafume fumigator.  The fumigator will kill borer ‘on the wing’ and other crawling / flying insects, including bed bugs, present at the time of its activation.  Borafume is especially good at flushing out and killing cockroaches.  For long term control, follow up with a Kiwicare NO Borer residual treatment using NO Borer Concentrate or Ready to Use.

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NO BUGS BORAFUME FUMIGATOR 100g MEGAFUME

As above but in a new Megafume size for large volume areas up to 1000m3.

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NO BORER READY TO USE

Safe, Effective Long Term Protection

NO Borer Ready to Use  is a solvent based product and can be applied directly from the container. This product is a long term (up to 20 years depending on UV light) solution to borer control.  After treatment any borer larvae in the wood will be killed when they try to eat their way out. Allow treated wood to dry off before painting or varnishing.

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NO BORER 10-1 CONCENTRATE

Safe, Effective Long Term Protection

This product is diluted 10-1 with kerosene or turpentine before use.  It is a long term (up to 20 years depending on UV light) solution to borer control.  Use on unsealed and unpainted timber.  This product is particularly good in the roof and under the house where boards are not painted or varnished.  After treatment any borer larvae in the wood will be killed when they try to eat their way out.

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NO BORER READY TO USE TRIGGER SPRAY

Easy to use, just spray unsealed timber so that the product seeps into the wood.  If the wood is painted or varnished, rub the spray into the borer holes with a cloth, then immediately wipe down the paint or varnish so that the spray does not cause it to lift.

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NO BORER SPRAY INJECTOR FLUID

Great product to easily treat furniture and small structural areas of infestation.  The aerosol forces the spray into the holes and tunnels, then any borer chewing the wood dies.  Where borer holes are linked by tunnels the spray can eject out another hole. 

Bonus use - Control lemon tree borer by injecting spray directly into the holes in the trunk. 

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Life cycle of Anobium spp.

• Egg-larvae 14-28 days
• Larvae-pupae 2-3 years
• Pupae-adult 21-60 days
• Adult-beetle 3-4 weeks

Exits October - February. Rounded holes 1-2mm. Attacks only soft sapwoods.

Ambeodontus tristis (New Zealand Native)

• Two Toothed Longhorn.
• 5 - 7 years inside wood.
• Exits March-May.
• Oval holes 2mm x 6mm.
• Attacks soft & heart wood.

New Technology of Wood Conservation

Without doubt Anobium punctatum was the prime motivator both here in New Zealand and around the world for the establishment of a good sound and reliable timber treatment; helping to place New Zealand among the world's leaders in the field of timber protection.

Classroom Clips

• Anobium larvae are seldom, if ever, found in fresh milled timbers, but require some condition for their development which is not present in wood until it has aged, or in some other way differs from new timber.
• When selecting a site for oviposition (egg laying), females appear to recognise the presence of starch in the wood, a vital ingredient for larvae survival. Eggs are NOT laid in starch free wood.
• Larvae eat and absorb cellulose only when it is rendered digestible by fungi and micro-organisms present in the wood itself and without which the borer larvae would starve.
• Humidity plays a very important part in the incidence of timber infestations. Damp, humid areas create ideal conditions for borer attacks.
• Most districts of New Zealand provide the perfect climate for borer.
• WORST AFFECTED AREAS: CENTRAL UPPER NORTH ISLAND particularly Waikato.
• LEAST AFFECTED AREAS: CENTRAL OTAGO. Hot dry climate will not support any significant borer infestations.
• Worldwide distribution of Anobium has been effected by man himself. Primarily with the relocation of infested furniture and also the widespread use of untreated softwood timbers right through into the late 50's and early 60's.
• Anobium punctatum always lays her eggs during the flight season (September - April in New Zealand). Eggs are 0.55mm long and 0.35mm wide. Average number of eggs is 30.
• Eggs are always laid in cracks, crevices, end-grain timbers, often into old flight holes, never onto sealed, painted or varnished surfaces.
• Females may mate 3 times or more during the course of egg laying. Mating normally takes place on the surface. Sometimes this will take place with the female in the hole and the male on the surface.
• Larvae bore directly into the timber through the bottom of the egg sack. 6mm long when fully grown, larvae will spend 2 - 3 years chewing away inside the wood before eventually working to a position just below the surface (September - October in New Zealand). At this point they hollow out a pupal cavity which allows for the change over from larvae through pupae and into adult beetles, climaxing with the adult beetle cutting out an exit trapdoor onto the surface.
• The exiting urge is of such magnitude that they frequently gnaw out through paints, wallpapers, varnishes, linoleums, wallboards and plasters. They have also been known to exit through sheet lead and formica.

Kiwicare - Yellow How to Guide