(Latin: Musca autumnalis) Commonly known as: Face fly This is a relative of the common housefly, which it closely resembles, and indeed the two are difficult to distinguish. The eggs are laid in fresh cow pats in the fields and the larvae feed on the dung. The adult flies live around the cattle and are […]
Cluster fly
(Latin: Pollenia rudis) In many houses large, greyish flies may appear during the winter. In some places they may occur in their thousands, and constitute an absolute plague as they buzz around lamps and fall into the tea cups, and so on. These are the so-called cluster flies, which are actually related to the blowflies. They […]
Lacewing
(Latin: Chrysopa carnea) With its large, translucent greenish wings, this is one of the most elegant insects. Seen in the right light the eyes shine like gold. During the summer lacewings live out in the open, flying silently around at night, and they are sometimes attracted into houses by the light. In autumn they start […]
Animals that come inside for the winter
In temperate regions there is very little evidence of insect life outdoors during the winter. This is simply because the low temperatures render insects incapable of activity, and even if they could move around there would be nothing for them to feed on. When autumn comes insects have to find sheltered places where they can […]
Animals that gnaw metal
The outer casing or exoskeleton of an insect consists mainly of the tough, flexible material known as chitin, which is more or less strengthened with the horny material sclerotin. When completely hardened, as for example in the mandibles, this is the hardest material that the animal world has succeeded in producing. It is harder than […]
Animals in thatch
Thatch is a very old roofing material that is still popular in some places. It not only blends well with the countryside but it also provides excellent insulation. As a result the house longhorn beetle (Hylotrupes) is unable to establish itself in the roof space below a thatched roof, which will not be warm enough […]
Davies’s Colletes
(Latin: Colletes daviesanus) These are solitary bees (p. 180) which do not form true colonies although several may live close together. Like other bees they have a sting, but are not very aggressive. In the wild they live in chalk or clay, but they may also live in mortar if it is not too hard. […]
Fungus in timber
Fungi are plants and therefore do not really belong in this book. Nevertheless they are often associated with animal pests and are therefore worth considering quite briefly. There are several different species of fungus which attack timber in houses, but they only do so when the timber is damp. This may happen when timber is […]
Control of timber pests
From the descriptions of the different timber pests it will be apparent that, in northern Europe, the only insects that warrant drastic measures are the house longhorn beetle (Hylotrupes bajulus), which causes trouble in some countries, and in certain cases the common furniture beetle (Anobium punctatum) and the powder-post beetles Lyctus spp). In attempting to […]
Ant beetle
(Latin: Corynetes coeruleus) This beetle has very similar habits to the preceding species, Opilo. Its larvae wander round in the tunnels and attack wood-boring larvae. They may also feed on the larvae of moths and larder beetles, for example in birds’ nests, and like the copra beetles (p. 75) they are sometimes found on dry […]
Opilo domesticus
(Latin: Opilo domesticus) This beetle can often be found in a loft where wood-boring beetles are attacking the timber. The adult beetle kills and eats many of the adult wood-boring beetles while its larvae hunt the larvae of wood- borers and house longhorns in their own tunnels. In doing so they have to dig their […]
Chalcids
Several species of small chalcids lay their eggs in the larvae of wood-boring beetles. They may directly hunt the larvae in their tunnels and one can often see these nimble little insects flying in and out of the holes in the timber, but some can lay their eggs through the timber with the help of […]
Mammals
Among the mammals that occur indoors it is only the true rodents, mice and rats, which attack timber. They can, however, cause a lot of damage, but much of this can be avoided if metal plates are fixed at the base of each outside door. Rats and mice always start to gnaw timber at an […]
Woodpeckers
(Latin: Isoptera) These birds are specialised for life in trees. They climb with the help of strong claws and use the powerful chisel-shaped bill for chopping a way through bark and soft wood in order to reach insect larvae, and also for making their nest holes. They are rarely regarded as pests but in certain cases […]
Termites
( Latin: Isoptera ) On a world scale the termites are by far the most serious pests of timber. There are about 2000 different species, but they require warmth and a high• humidity and therefore only thrive under tropical conditions. Like ants and bees, termites live in colonies which consist of so-called kings and queens, concerned with […]
Spider beetle larvae
Spider beetle larvae behave similar to dermestid beetles, but their pupation tunnels are smaller.
Dermestid larvae
Dermestid larvae usually wander away from the material they have been living in when they are fully grown (p. 73) and then gnaw into some other material and pupate there. In buildings they often attack timber, and in stores of hides or dried fish which have been attacked by the larder beetle the woodwork may, […]
Goat moth
(Latin: Cossus cossus ) From time to time one finds remarkably large circular holes in timber, particularly if there are willows or poplars in the vicinity. These holes are always in the surface timber of structures such as doors and window frames, and they are made by goat moth larvae. The female lays her eggs in […]
Small black or garden ant
Latin: Acanthomyops niger, lasius niger Preferred common name: Common black ant Several of the ants which otherwise live in the ground will occasionally build their nests in damp timber in the house, and these include the garden ant. They will only start to gnaw their way into timber which has already been subject to damp and […]
Ametastegia glabrata
Preferred common name: Dock sawfly or dock false-worm The green larvae of this sawfly live on various weeds, such as sorrel, dock and willow herb. Normally, the fully grown larvae gnaw their way into dry plant stems where they pupate, but occasionally they try elsewhere. When they attack wooden articles in the house they may […]
Wood wasps
(Latin: Family Siricidae) Wood wasps only lay eggs in trees that still have their bark, so they are unlikely to enter a house, except in timber already infested. It would, in fact, be possible to buy furniture containing these larvae. There is no risk of these insects spreading in the house, and it is very […]
Wharfborer
(Latin: Nacerda melanura) This species is rather like a cerambycid, having long antennae, but it actually belongs to a completely different family. It is thought to have come originally from the Great Lakes area of the U.S.A., but has now been carried to all parts of the temperate zone by ships. The adult beetle is […]
Clytus arietis
Preferred common name: The wasp beetle The larvae of this beetle live in dead, dry deciduous wood. They do not attack timber indoors, but may be introduced with logs, and when the adult beetles are flying in mid-summer, they sometimes come in through doors and windows. They attract attention because of the striking colour pattern, […]
Chlorophorus annularis
Preferred common name: bamboo tiger longhorn This is a beetle from south-east Asia, which feeds mainly on bamboo, and it may be a very serious pest where this is used for building houses. Occasionally bamboo imported into Europe may contain the larvae. In dry bamboo the larval development takes several years so it may be […]
Gracilia minuta
This beetle is specialized for living in the thin branches of various deciduous trees. It is a very small species occurring mainly in southern Europe, whence it may be introduced further north in basketwork made out of willow with the bark still on. Development normally takes a year. In northern Europe this species could certainly […]
Criocephalus rusticus
This is another pest of conifers, particularly pine, and it is more common in the north of England and in Scotland than further south. It requires the timber to be damp if it is to thrive. The larvae normally live in pine stumps, but may also attack dead or felled trees, or damp planking at […]
Leptura rubra
Aka: Red-brown Longhorn Beetle This beetle is easily distinguished by the attractive yellowish-red coloration. The females lay their eggs in damp softwood, often in diseased or dead branches. The larvae live exclusively in the sapwood and their development normally takes two years. When seen indoors this beetle has usually flown in from adjacent woodlands, but […]
Pine sawyer
( Latin: Monochamus sutor ) This beetle is widely distributed in the conifer forests of northern Europe. The development normally takes one year. The eggs are laid in a depression which the female gnaws in the bark and the larva eats its way from there into the wood. Metamorphosis into the adult beetle takes place in […]
House longhorn
(Latin: Hylotrupes bajulus) From the economic standpoint this beetle is one of the most important pests of structural timber, but it is not widespread in Britain. In the wild the larvae live in old and completely dry coniferous trees. The adult beetle, which is only rarely seen, emerges in lofts in the warmest part of […]
Phymatodes testaceus
(Latin: Phymatodes testaceus) There are different colour variants of this beetle, some having yellowish elytra, some blue. The life cycle is the same as that of the preceding species with the sole exception that the present species only attacks hardwoods, such as beech, birch and oak. In a house the first sign will normally be […]
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