Wharf borer beetle

Habitat:

Very damp, decayed softwoods and hardwoods. Often found in wharf timbers and other wood in freshwater or brackish conditions. In buildings they are often in cellars or in timber which has become buried. Sometimes they are found in older wooden boats.

Damage characteristics:

Large, oval emergence holes, about 6 mm across, leading to irregular galleries packed with hardened, mud-like material and plugs of coarse fibres.

Insect characteristics and location:

Adults 6-12 mm long, elongated, pale reddish-brown with distinctive black tip to wing covers. Long antennae, similar to forest longhorn beetle but without kidney shaped eye and antennae attached to head well before eye. Found on or around damaged timber in summer. Known to invade adjacent buildings in great numbers causing a nuisance.

Larva up to 30 mm long, slender, greyish-white. Three pairs of large, conspicuous legs and two pairs of fleshy stumps on rear half of body. Fairly mobile. Found on or in damaged timber, all year round.