Pest Library: Old House Wood Borer

Old House Wood Borers are fairly large beetles with males approximately 1/2" and the females reaching 1" in length. They have a slightly flattened body and range from gray-black to brown-black in color with gray or yellow hair on their bodies and two dark dots on their backs.

The old house borer larvae are found in soft woods like pine. Mature larvae can grow to 1 5/8" in length and are creamy-white in color. They can infest old and new wood and the adult female will lay approximately 150-200 eggs in early summer in cracks and crevices of the wood. When the eggs hatch, the larvae will then bore into the wood where they will mature over the next two to ten years. When adults emerge from the wood, they usually leave behind an oval hole approximately 1/4" in size.