Any chance you have some fruit laying around that is overly ripe? Without seeing a pic...maybe they are fruit flies?
HEEEEEEEEEELPPPPP. What did I just bring in my house with my wood?
- Thread starter Swedishchef
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
- Status
I think you're safe. Powderpost beetles - and most other wood-boring beetles - create holes in the surface of wood AFTER the larvae have matured and the adult emerges. If you brought any breeding adults in, they would have to lay eggs on your wood, and the larvae would have to hatch, mature, morph, and emerge as adults before you'd see anything like the holes in your furniture or framing that you posted. Depending on the species, that can take between months and (literally) 5 or 6 years.
Adult beetles don't eat wood - it's the larvae that chomp on the cellulose and sugars in the wood fibers - so you would have to bring in a pretty significant population of adults to create any kind of a problem. That loan, adult beetle that you found on the window sill won't cause any damage, even if he is a larval wood-boring species.
The mosquito-like bugs are probably just midges that happened to be hanging out in some damp, secluded corner of the wood pile and now just want to go home. Anything that looks like a mosquito - long, thin legs and body, thin wings, etc. - requires standing water to breed and won't eat wood, so you don't need to worry about them, either. They'll all die in a few days.
Rest easy!
Adult beetles don't eat wood - it's the larvae that chomp on the cellulose and sugars in the wood fibers - so you would have to bring in a pretty significant population of adults to create any kind of a problem. That loan, adult beetle that you found on the window sill won't cause any damage, even if he is a larval wood-boring species.
The mosquito-like bugs are probably just midges that happened to be hanging out in some damp, secluded corner of the wood pile and now just want to go home. Anything that looks like a mosquito - long, thin legs and body, thin wings, etc. - requires standing water to breed and won't eat wood, so you don't need to worry about them, either. They'll all die in a few days.
Rest easy!
Another vote here to keep fire wood outside.
The closest our wood gets to coming inside, other than a day or two of available firewood, is on a trailer in our attached garage - but that even that doesn't happen until consistent freezing weather & our garage is unheated.
Only every odd now and then does anything crawl out of our wood once it's inside the house. Even that happenstance is easy to control as our inside wood is on a rolling dolly (see bugs? roll the dolly outside).
Shari
The closest our wood gets to coming inside, other than a day or two of available firewood, is on a trailer in our attached garage - but that even that doesn't happen until consistent freezing weather & our garage is unheated.
Only every odd now and then does anything crawl out of our wood once it's inside the house. Even that happenstance is easy to control as our inside wood is on a rolling dolly (see bugs? roll the dolly outside).
Shari
Forgot to add....we stack in an unheated garage. I spray a circle around the wood with the "kills all stuff" bug spray from the hardware store. Also spray the floor around the garage. Would not stop winged critters, but no chance of crawlers getting through the perimeter. Probably overkill...bet for $20 a jug that last a year...well worth the piece of mind.
firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
I must not be doing something "right" . . . I never see any live bugs inside the house during the winter . . . except for the occasional spider (but he/she was most likely already inside) and sometimes a few house flies who like the heat from the woodstove almost as much as my wife and cats do . . . other than that . . . the only time I see bugs are when I'm splitting the wood . . . and I see the after-effects in the wood pile from the powder post beetles . . . but no live critters . . . and I don't use any pesticides.
Only thing I have had "brought int" were spiders...I spray because it gives me a sense of peace of mind. Likely overkill since my stuff is in the pile for a while...but a cheap nights sleep and I have lots of other things to worry about.
Hey guys
Thanks for the comments.
No fruit laying around whatsoever. The total fly kill count is over 100 now. I killed about 20 during lunch today. They were all in the windows.
No termites in Quebec? Are you sure? Some of those pics of pieces of wood I posted seem like termite work to me. I am no expert at all, I am simply comparing it to other pics I have seen. The tunneling in the wood seems fishy..
I will try and get a pic tonight and post it for everyone to see. THey are pretty small. It seems like they have some kind of "package" under their head. The bodies are slim and long (for it's size) with little legs, antanaes and a package under their "chin". By my description, it's obvious I am no entomologist. lol
A.
Thanks for the comments.
No fruit laying around whatsoever. The total fly kill count is over 100 now. I killed about 20 during lunch today. They were all in the windows.
No termites in Quebec? Are you sure? Some of those pics of pieces of wood I posted seem like termite work to me. I am no expert at all, I am simply comparing it to other pics I have seen. The tunneling in the wood seems fishy..
I will try and get a pic tonight and post it for everyone to see. THey are pretty small. It seems like they have some kind of "package" under their head. The bodies are slim and long (for it's size) with little legs, antanaes and a package under their "chin". By my description, it's obvious I am no entomologist. lol
A.
firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
Swedishchef said:
Oh no it's the dreaded FedEx bug . . . don't confuse them with the UPS bug -- it looks pretty similar but it is brown and wears shorts in the summer.
- Status
Similar threads
