Termite mudding over ant cap.

Wood borers infest timber and furniture

There are many types of wood borer in Australia. We have compiled information about those which are most often found in timber in houses and furniture.

• 23 November 2005 | Updated 14 October 2011

• Lyctid borer (Powder post borer)
• Anobiid borer
• Anobium punctatum (Common furniture beetle)
• Calymmaderus incisus (Queensland pine beetle)
• Borers that attack the living tree or freshly cut timber

There are many types of wood borer. Those which are most often found in timber in houses and furniture, usually belong to one of the following groups.

Lyctid borer (Powder post borer)

These borers:

• produce a very fine powdery dust, similar in consistency to talc
• attack the sapwood of certain hardwood timbers
• cause serious structural weakening in timber that has a high sapwood content.

Anobiid borer

These borers produce a gritty 'salt like' dust. There are many different species of this borer, but two significant ones are listed - Anobium punctatum, the common furniture beetle, and Calymmaderus incisus, the Queensland pine beetle.

Anobium punctatum (Common furniture beetle)

These borers:

• attack furniture, structural timbers, flooring and decorative wood work
• prefer old, well seasoned timber, especially softwoods such as Baltic pine or New Zealand white pine
• attack some hardwoods, especially blackwood and imported English oak. Australian eucalypts appear to be immune
• prefer cool, humid conditions.

Calymmaderus incisus (Queensland pine beetle)

These borers:

• are commonly found in Queensland
• attack softwood timbers such as Hoop pine and to a lesser extent Bunya pine and New Zealand white pine
• attack to timber in dark sub-floor areas is common.

Borers that attack the living tree or freshly cut timber

Most of the borers in this group are of little concern to home owners.

Timber that is kiln dried will contain no live larvae. If borer larvae (grubs) survive the saw-milling process, they may continue feeding on the timber and emerge as adults once the timber dries out.

The adults will not re-infest the dry timber, and structural weakening of timbers by this type of borer is rare.

As with lyctid borers, if decorative timber is infested and the emergent holes are considered unsightly, the timber may be treated using borer fluid.

Read more about CSIRO research on pest management.