POWDER POST BEETLES also known as Woodborers. Unlike termite it is equally important pest, which destroys wood. The main sign of infestation is yellowish powder falling from furniture, which is an excreta of organism. Larvae bore the wood and live for years feeding on the wood-creating network of internal tunnels throughout the timber and can quickly reduce it to dust.
Powder post beetles mainly belong to following four important families of order Coleoptera.
1) Lyctidae
2) Bostrichidae
3) Anobiidae
4) Cerambycidae
Common species observed in India:
The adult beetles are small, ranging from 2-7 mm in length, light brown to almost black in colour. Life span of powder post beetles varies from 1 to 5 years, depending on the quality of the wood they infest, fluctuation in temperature, moisture content of the wood & species of beetle.