Wood borer

Appearance:

The common furniture beetle or common house borer is a woodboring beetle. In the larvalstage it bores in wood and feeds upon it. Adult measure 2.7–4.5 millimetres (0.11–0.18 in) in length.

Life Span:

Adults do not feed; they just reproduce. The female lays her eggs into cracks in wood or inside old exit holes, if available. The eggs hatch after some three weeks, each producing a 1 millimetre (0.039 in) long, creamy white, C-shaped larva. For three to four years the larvae bore semi-randomly through timber, following and eating the starchy part of the wood grain, and grow up to 7 millimetres (0.28 in). They come nearer to the wood surface when ready to pupate. They excavate small spaces just under the wood surface and take up to eight weeks to pupate. The adults then break through the surface, making a 1 mm to 1.5 millimetres (0.059 in) exit hole and spilling dust, the first visible signs of an infestation.