Borers

There are five main wood boring insects in New Zealand that attack buildings and interior woodwork:

• Common House Borer – prefers softwood/sap timbers, makes round exit holes from 2mm diameter. The frass from the borings is a densely packed fine powder. Beetles emerge from wood generally between November and February.
• Native two-tooth Long Horn Borer – makes large oval holes measuring 3-4mm across. They attack sap or heart timbers. Beetles emerge during the Autumn. Their frass is also fine and packed tightly in exit holes.
• Powder Post Beetles
• New Zealand Native Termites
• (and occasionally) Australian Subterranean Termites

Borer grubs will tunnel for 3 or more years in the timber and are most destructive at this stage of their life cycle before changing into beetles and emerging from the wood. Borer damage in weatherboards allows entry of moisture, encourages rot and causes paint failure.Whereas, flight holes in interior walls disfigure wallpapers. Borer in roof timbers can cause severe weakening and in under floor structures cause sagging floors, walls and sticking doors and windows.

Borer can attack and ruin valuable furniture. Moving new furniture into a Borer ridden house invites destruction and depreciation of the articles.

N.Z. Native Termites are wood-dwelling, they live in colonies hollowing out a cavity in the timber until it has only a thin layer on the outside, which makes it difficult to locate. However, a distinguishing feature is the presence of small, hard, oval six-sided pallets of digested wood which are expelled from the runways. Affected timbers, if tapped, give a hollow sound and often show a wrinkled surface. This pest can cause major structural damage.