Woodworm Removal Dublin
Throughout Ireland, homes and commercial properties are up against woodworm. The presence of any wood boring insects are a major issue for any home or business. If you suspect that you are dealing with this particular pest, call Clear Pest Control to diagnose your infestation and schedule your woodworm removal today.
Part of what makes woodworm extermination so difficult is tracking them down in the first place. These pests are small, sneaky and tough to track. Despite their size, woodworms can do a lot of damage to pieces of furniture as well as structural timber.
Diagnosing a Woodworm Problem: Get to Know These Pests
Despite the name, woodworm isn’t actually a worm at all! Woodworm is another term for the larvae of any species of wood boring beetles. Adult beetles will lay their eggs on a wooden surface, infesting it. These larvae are small, white and often resemble maggots. In fact, you might look right at them and not even notice that they are there.
Woodworm larvae will stay inside infested timber, eating away at the cellulose. These will often leave trails or tunnels behind, as well as exit holes as larvae pass from one stage of the lifecycle to another. The stages of the woodworm lifecycle are:
- Egg
- Larva
- Pupa
- Adult Beetle
After a larva has grown, they will emerge from wood as an adult beetle. Once free, common furniture beetles will mate again, restarting the cycle and escalating the scale of damage. Exit holes are one of the most common signs of woodworm infestation and often range from 1-3 millimetres. They are incredibly hard to see unless you are actively looking for them.
If you spot these exit holes it doesn’t guarantee that you are dealing with an active woodworm infestation. For example, holes or tunnels may have been left in antique furniture years before you noticed them. The same is true of boreholes found in structural timber. If you’ve purchased an older home (or even a relatively new one) you might notice holes that were left behind after a previous owner had already gotten rid of woodworm.
There is not one single type of woodworm. They can be caused by multiple types of wood boring beetle so finding the right treatment means being able to identify species and create a customized plan.
Treating Woodworm: Identifying Signs of Infestation
Woodworms might be small but they can cause large-scale damage over time. Having multiple pests chewing through wooden furniture, moldings or structural wood will leave it weak. Taking a seat on a weakened chair can lead to it breaking while stepping on a spot of damaged flooring can mean putting your foot right through it.
The main signs of a woodworm problem include:
Exit Holes: One of the most common identifiers of a woodworm infestation are exit holes. These are left behind when pupa move into their final life stage, becoming adult beetles and having to burrow their way out of wood.
Frass: As larvae burrow through wood they leave signs. Frass is a fine powdery dust that is usually left around the exit holes. It might look like it’s from the chewed wood but it is actually droppings left behind by the larvae. If you see frass around the holes it is a sign that you are dealing with an active infestation.
Tunnels: As larvae move through timber they will leave tunnels behind. This is one of the more difficult signs to track because these tunnels are often inside the wood itself. This would involve breaking into timber to see whether or not there were tunnels inside. If you can see evidence of tunnels on the outer areas of wood surfaces, it’s a good idea to call an expert as soon as possible.
Weak Wood: If left untreated a woodworm infestation will damage timber until it is structurally unstable. All it takes is one wrong step on damaged wood to cause serious injury. If you are noticing damaged wood you should have it inspected to assess whether you are dealing with rot or a pest infestation.
Woodworm Pest Control: Call the Experts at the First Sign of Trouble
You can find plenty of over the counter woodworm treatments that will claim to get rid of your pest problem but not all of these are effective — or safe! Depending on the treatment area just spraying woodworm killers around furniture legs or flooring can be a hazard to pets and small children. Instead of taking a risk on harsh chemical treatments or allowing infestations to go unchecked, call the pest control experts at Clear Pest Control for thorough treatments and tips on how to prevent woodworm infestations in the future.
