Grinder beetles: what are they?
There are many species of wood-boring beetles in nature, but only a few species can be found at home. These include:
- furniture;
- brownie;
- combed;
- bread
An ordinary furniture woodboring beetle with a body length of 2 to 5 mm, under favorable conditions, is capable of breeding several generations of new offspring in just one year. The insect can be identified by its dark brown color and stripes of dots on the surface of the elytra. Insect larvae reach 6 mm in length. They develop from eggs laid by the female in the most inaccessible dark areas of the furniture. The holes left by the beetle do not exceed 1-2 mm in diameter.
The house tree beetle is identified by its black-brown color with golden dots on its back. The insect reaches 3 mm in length at maturity. The beetle larvae are twice its size. Just like the furniture woodborer, the female house beetle lays eggs in the crevices of mostly coniferous furniture in places with high humidity levels.
The comb grinder reaches 5 mm in length. It feeds mainly on deciduous trees, develops inside the tree, from where it destroys it almost completely, after which it leaves the tree to search for a new source of food.
The bread borer beetle (the photo below will help you not to be mistaken) prefers dry food products and does not disdain food of plant origin.
Separately, it is worth highlighting beetles that are representatives of other families, for example, longhorned beetles and bark beetles. The larvae of the former reach 35 mm in size and gnaw through the surface of wood as close to the surface as possible.
In the photo - a bread grinder
What does a tree beetle look like?
The name tree beetle hides several species of insects.
On the territory of Russia, beetles from the group of grinders are more common: house beetles, furniture beetles and grain beetles. The furniture grinder is a member of the Coleoptera family. An adult reaches 4.5 – 5 mm in length. The color of the shell is dark brown with golden splashes. Insects settle in pieces of furniture, sometimes in walls or floors. The presence of a furniture grinder becomes known after small holes appear in the furniture upholstery. After fertilization, the female lays eggs inside the gnawed passages.
House grinder. Feeds on damp wood, preferring dying or dead trees. Insects often settle outside a wooden structure. An adult grows up to 7 mm in length. The dense shell is brown, with two golden spots along the edges of the head. The insect damages attic floors, floorboards and corners of rooms.
Bread grinder. Damages paper products, museum exhibits, and food products of animal or plant origin. An adult insect reaches a length of 3.8 mm, has short antennae and an elongated body.
What are the signs to detect a beetle?
It is not so difficult to discover that a furniture grinder has settled in the house and has managed to hatch larvae in the very depths of the furniture. There are a number of signs by which it is easy to determine the location of the pest. These include:
- monotonous tapping inside the furniture in short series with repetitions, clearly audible and with a unique rhythm;
- holes on furniture with a small diameter;
- traces of insect activity on furniture.
A heavily damaged surface with bugs flying out of it from time to time will indicate a high degree of damage. The absence of holes in the surface of a tree cannot guarantee the absence of pests. The level of infection can be determined at the first sounds emanating from the furniture.
Long-horned beetle
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One of the oldest inhabitants on Earth, the long-horned beetle has many varieties. The size of the insect can vary from a few millimeters to several centimeters. Whiskers often exceed body size by 10 times. The larvae reach 3 centimeters in length. In our area, you will most likely encounter a mustachioed black beetle with a green-blue tint. During its development, the longhorned beetle goes through several stages - egg, larva, pupa and, in fact, the beetle.
Longhorned beetle and longhorned beetle species are here!
What harm does a grinder do?
Definitely wood bugs in an apartment (the photo will help determine the type of pest) - this is unpleasant, but how dangerous is it for humans? In fact, insects do not pose a serious threat to people, but they cause discomfort primarily through activated activity after dark.
In addition, beetles seriously damage wood, so rooms with an abundance of wooden furniture and natural floors automatically fall into the risk zone. The appearance of uninvited “guests” in the house will lead to serious damage to products and a violation of the integrity of the interior, as a result.
Bark beetle
Read more about it in the article: how to get rid of the typograph bark beetle
These beetles often live in wooden houses, posing a serious danger. These black-brown bugs, no larger than 1 cm in size, gnaw many passages in the wood, destroying the product.
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They enter the house along with building materials or from neighboring trees. Bark beetle larvae are so voracious that the appearance of just one infected board in a house is enough for them to destroy the entire log house - this will take only a few years.
If single burrows are detected, you can inject special insecticides (“Anti-bug”, “Tree Healer”) directly into the burrows with a syringe, and then cover up the holes. Then all wooden elements of the house should be treated with antiseptics in order to get rid of insects remaining in undetected passages.
If the affected area is large, you need to stick a knife or awl into the damaged area. If the tool enters easily, then the damage is significant. In this case, the affected material must be removed and burned along with the pests. Then treat healthy wood with insecticide and antiseptic and place a new beam in the excavation site. If the wood is strong enough, but the damaged area is large, insecticide treatment should be repeated several times.
Getting rid of bark beetles is quite difficult, so it is better to take preventive measures. First of all, you need to buy proven wood that has been treated with an antiseptic. Also, for the purpose of prevention, it is necessary to periodically treat all wooden elements of the structure (both external and internal) with antiseptics (Senezh, Aquatex, Ecolan, Woodpecker, etc.), and if a lot has passed since the last treatment time - and insecticides.
Folk methods of dealing with grinders - which ones to choose?
At the initial stage of damage to wooden products by insects, you can try to solve the problem using natural remedies and methods. Naturally, it will only be possible to get rid of pests if their appearance is detected before several new generations are born, and the condition of the tree reaches a level where practically nothing can be corrected.
The simplest folk remedies to combat grinders are:
- Table salt solution. It is used to treat contaminated surfaces. The effect can only be achieved indoors.
- An aqueous solution of sodium fluoride or fluoride with a concentration of no more than 2.5%. The composition is prepared simply, use at the rate of 200 ml per m2. A regular paint brush, roller or spray gun is suitable for processing.
- A mixture of naphthalene, resin and black carbolic acid. The components are mixed in equal quantities and the wood is treated with a brush.
- Hot olive. The surface is treated with the compound only when the appearance of the wood no longer matters, and the emphasis is placed on its durability and integrity.
- A solution of turpentine and kerosene (3:1). The mixture is poured into the holes made by pests in the surface of the tree, after lubricating it with Vaseline.
- Kerosene with linseed and motor oils. Wood is processed using brushes and rollers.
When studying folk remedies and methods, you need to remember that bugs appear in furniture for a reason. They are attracted to dampness, which means it is easier to avoid infection by keeping furniture and wooden objects in dry rooms with an optimal microclimate and regular ventilation.
How to get rid of the borer beetle
Effective methods have been developed to get rid of borer beetles in a timely manner. For this purpose:
- Toxic substances.
- Folk methods of struggle.
- Wood is impregnated with various liquids and mixtures.
- The wood is subjected to thermal action.
- Remove the affected areas of wooden structures.
- Smoke bombs and fumigators are used.
- They use microwave devices to irradiate problem areas.
- Use the services of special services.
Insecticides
When wooden structures are heavily damaged by the borer beetle, it is better to use insecticidal preparations. With the help of toxic drugs, it is possible to get rid of both adult individuals and larvae, which cause the greatest damage. But there is one drawback, which requires the use of personal protective equipment, such as rubber gloves, goggles, a respirator and thick clothing.
Insecticidal preparations, which have a high degree of toxicity, have a detrimental effect on pests from the first minutes of use, but they are unsafe for both humans and domestic animals. Therefore, you will have to evacuate all family members and pets from the premises for the time specified in the instructions for use of the drug. Similar control agents are sold in hardware stores.
Microwave processing
This method of control is based on the fact that the affected areas, under the influence of microwave radiation, are heated to a temperature that has a detrimental effect on the beetle and its larvae. The advantage of the method is that a person does not have to leave his home, just like a pet.
Destruction of the borer beetle in the Vitoslavlitsy Museum
Special impregnations
The use of liquid to impregnate wood is relevant only if it is necessary to protect unaffected wood. This method is not suitable for combating wood-boring beetles, since it will not give the required result. For additional protection, wooden structures are plastered, which gives a 100 percent guarantee that grinders will not appear in them.
Fighting with high and low temperatures
You can fight grinders not only with high temperature, but also with low temperature. This method is called freezing. To effectively combat the pest, it is necessary to keep the affected areas for 2 days at a temperature below minus 2 degrees or by heating individual areas to a temperature above 50 degrees. This can only be achieved in special chambers, therefore, to combat a pest that has attacked a person’s home, these methods are ineffective, since they are impossible to implement in practice.
Fumigators
This control option has a significant effect, since pests die from phosphine gas. Therefore, the correct use of this gas will quickly get rid of beetles and their larvae.
GRINDER BEETLE AT HOME - REMOVAL AND PREVENTION
Removing infected areas
This method of control is effective in the early stages of wood damage, since it is possible to replace individual fragments of a wooden structure. In fact, despite the simplicity of the method, it can be quite expensive.
Folk remedies
Folk remedies are not only effective, but also safe, and therefore suitable for controlling pests in human homes. If you take petroleum jelly into a syringe and inject it into the holes, and then close the holes with paraffin, wax or window putty, you can count on the fact that the pest will stop damaging the wood.
If you take and prepare a mixture of turpentine (3 hours), kerosene (1 hour) and naphthalene (8 g), as well as gasoline (90 g), then this mixture will help in the fight against the pest. This mixture is applied to infected areas of wood, but you need to be careful, since the mixture is quite flammable and instead of fighting insects you will have to fight the fire.
To prevent wood beetles from penetrating into wood products, it is enough to soak them in a saline solution. An infusion of vinegar and chopped garlic gives the same effect. If the surface of the structure is painted or plastered, this will also protect the wood from the penetration of borer beetles.
Professional processing
Often, in conditions of massive insect infestation of wooden structures, it is necessary to resort to the help of special services that have more advanced methods of pest control, especially since they have a full range of tools for this.
Cold fog treatment for the borer beetle
Fumigation - when is it necessary and how is it carried out?
If there are tree beetles in a house or wooden building, and their numbers have increased so much that none of the listed remedies help, you can try to fumigate the area with insect-infested surfaces.
Fumigation is a method of controlling harmful insects using special aerosols or smoke containing fumigants. It would be appropriate to use magnesium or aluminum phosphide.
Before starting the procedure, it is mandatory to remove all pets from the premises, and also free it from family members. Food, dishes, toys, and clothes are carefully covered with film. Windows, doors and vents are tightly closed.
The smoking process will take several weeks on average, but will depend on the room temperature. After completing the procedure, wet cleaning is carried out using a solution of soda ash.
Considering that fumigation is carried out by trained employees of a special service and requires so much time, it makes sense to seek help only if the bugs cannot be exterminated and continue to annoy. It is also important that residents of a house or apartment where woodworms have infested have the opportunity to leave their home for the required period.
Prevention measures
- To avoid the appearance of bugs in the apartment, it is necessary to ventilate the room as often as possible, especially kitchen cabinets.
- It would be a good idea to wipe them from the inside with a cloth soaked in vinegar.
- When buying cereals and pasta, you need to look at the packages with their contents, as they may already contain pests.
- When purchasing furniture, you should also inspect it for the presence of characteristic holes.
- It is advisable to treat all wooden materials that are used to decorate the apartment with an antiseptic (Antizhuk, Wood Healer).
- To prevent bugs such as springtails from appearing in your apartment, you should not over-moisten the soil in which the plants grow. In addition, it is a good idea to sprinkle some ash on top of the soil.
- Stocks of cereals can be stored on the balcony in winter to prevent beetles from infesting.
- And, of course, keep the apartment clean, vacuum furniture and carpets more often, treat them with steam, and prevent dampness in the bathrooms; Take out the trash promptly.
We suggest you read: What kind of bugs crawl in the bathroom
Pests cause significant damage to human property if they become infested; fighting them is long, expensive and difficult. Therefore, it is easier and more profitable to take preventive measures against their occurrence. The basis of prevention is regular ventilation of the room, thorough cleaning and keeping the wooden elements of the interior clean.
“Polish” or “Losk” is perfect as a care product; their composition allows you not only to repel the grinder beetle, but also to maintain the furniture in good condition for a long time. Some wooden surfaces will be protected by regular and timely painting and varnishing. Untreated wood can be wiped with a chloramine solution or turpentine.
Furniture grinders love dampness, so to prevent their occurrence, it is advisable not to store wood in damp and unventilated places.
Also, to prevent damage to wood by pests, it is necessary to treat the logs at the construction stage, using compounds such as “Phoenix”, “Pinotex”, “Senezh” and others.
