Beetles in the house

This last few months Ive been finding these 2mm, black, oval, hard, round backed beetle type insects alive or dead on the window sills around the house. Every day there will be about half a dozen on most of them and Ive no idea what they are or where they're coming from It suddenly struck me this morning they might be the adults of wood worm, but Ive no idea what wood worm look like and couldnt find anything on google Our house is a 1930s one, we've owned it for 2.5 yrs. Can anyone help? If they ARE wood worm, how do we find where the infestation is and what's the likely cost of clearing it up?

thanks

Reply to
BingoLady
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Ive finally managed to find a pic of a woodworm beetle, they're quite long and therefore not the bug at our house. That's a relief I just hope they're not another type of wood borer.

Reply to
BingoLady

Is there any evidence of "flight holes" in your cills (the holes the insects bore out from the wood) - their size / shape depends on the critter that caused them, but they generally look like dart holes

Paul

Reply to
Paul

We moved into a 30's 3 bed semi 9 months ago and found extensive woodworm in the floorboards under the loo. Luckily they hadn't done too much damage to the actual joist. There was also evidence of damp. Apparently this is very common because when I told the woodworm chappie on the phone we had found woodworm and told him the type of house, he finished my sentence telling ME it was in the loo.

Basically condensation had dripped off of the cold cistern and gone through the gaps in the lino. Then the water was trapped under the lino and the house was never heated sufficiently to dry it out. We've since had new heating fitted and improved ventilation.

As for the woodworm we had the entire upstairs treated by a professional company who provided a 25 year guarantee (which in reality I see as only being useful for passing on to next owners if we move). This was a few hundred pounds and we had to take up all the carpets having moved _everything_ downstairs. It then ponged for a bit, but we were back in that evening.

The description you gave _sounds_ like immature woodworm beetles to me, but obviously I havn't seen a picture. Bit of an odd time of year to find them though - they hatch in the spring.

Reply to
Fitz

Immature woodworm beetles Ive looked at pics on a couple of pest control pages and wood worm adults are quite long compared to width. These are very much like minature black ladybirds in shape. Looking at what you wrote, our potential problem area is under the shower which was leaking until I replaced the tray earlier this year. Ill have a look

Reply to
BingoLady

Do they look anything like these:

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Reply to
BigWallop

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> or

Or like this:

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Reply to
BigWallop

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Or even like this:

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Reply to
BigWallop

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Or anything like these:

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Reply to
BigWallop

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Or even anything like this:

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Reply to
BigWallop

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Reply to
BigWallop

Oh my god BW, you're putting the fear of god in me

Reply to
BingoLady

Identifying the little blighters is the first step in finding out if they're doing, or going to do, damage, so you know what to look for in case they've been around for a while.

They could also be completely harmless and just came inside for some heat during this cold snap. :-))

Reply to
BigWallop

I had something similar in a flat that I used to live in. Very similar to your description.

My father (who's a Building Surveyor / Valuer and has seen more infestations, rots and delapidations than I've had hot dinners) couldn't find them in any of his pest books.

One of his friends in the village had a daughter who had just qualified and taken a post as a pest control officer in the council's environmental health department. Took a few up to her and she dug about a bit to find out more.

From memory (it was about 10 years ago now) these were some kind of spider beetle, she reckoned that they were completely benign.

They mostly seemed to live under the old floor covering (not lino, can't remember the name of the stuff, very common) in the kitchen. When we ripped this out and replaced it I sprayed crawling insect killer on the boards before tacking the hardboard down again and we never saw them again.

Are there any other signs of decay and or damage around? If so, they might be different and perhaps not so benign...

cheers Richard

-- Richard Sampson

email me at richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk

Reply to
RichardS

"BigWallop" wrote | "BigWallop" wrote | > "BigWallop" wrote | > > "BigWallop" wrote | > > > "BigWallop" wrote | > > > > Do they look anything like these: | > > > Or like this: | > > Or anything like these: | > Or even anything like this: | Or any of these:

Sure you haven't missed a link? :-)

Owain

Reply to
Owain

Pictures Not brilliant but the best I could get on my digicam.

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Reply to
BingoLady

BW, you're making me itch ..... stop it!

Reply to
Simon

If they closely resemble these:

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they are woodworm.

They do look like common furniture beetle (woodworm) to me, I know, I had to get rid of a roof because them, and you probably have some cold damp, softened wood somewhere. The beetles you are seeing are the adults and have emerged from somewhere around the house.

Time to get professional help I'm afraid.

Reply to
BigWallop

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