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These products deal with borer

500ml NoBorerConc NO BORER (solvent based)
NO Borer 500ml RTU NO BORER READY TO USE (water based)
NoBorer Spray NO BORER SPRAY INJECTOR
No bugs Borafume 20g2 NO BUGS BORAFUME

Borer

borer

You may not notice these beetles except when they collect on the window sills or corners of the rooms in your house, but you will notice the tell tale flight holes and damage to wood around your home.


How to About Tips Related articles Gallery

HOW TO CONTROL BORER

To get rid of borer follow these steps:

  1. Proof bare wood > Treat any bare wood with NO BORER spray. The solvents used with NO BORER concentrate and ready to use will penetrate deep into the timber and in normal circumstances protect the wood for many years. Small areas where solvent cannot be used can be treated with NO BORER ready to use trigger spray.
  2. Proof coated wood > Inject flight holes in painted, varnished or polished timbers with NO BORER SPRAY INJECTOR. The aerosol forces insecticide into the labyrinth created by the borer larva, killing any larva in the labyrinth or nearby. It also prevents adult beetles laying eggs in the flight hole.
  3. Stop > During each flight season (October-May) set off NO BUGS BORAFUME fumigator (borer bomb) in roof voids and sub-floor areas to flush out and kill adult borer.
  4. Ventilate > Borer prefer timber that has some moisture in it. Ensure that your sub-floor is dry and well ventilated. Check for plumbing leaks and unblock all air vents.
  5. Seal > Check for leaks in the roof and if you have old terracotta or concrete tiles. These can act like sponges soaking up water and increasing the relative humidity of roof voids. Check that tiles are well sealed with NO LEAKS MASONRY SEALER or NO LEAKS RED BRICK AND TERRACOTTA SEALER to prevent moisture penetration.

About

Common Borer - Also known as: Furniture Beetle, Woodworm Beetle, Bora Beetle, Anobium punctatum and Native Borer Leanobium flavomaculatum.

House borer (both common and the native ) are pests of major economic importance in New Zealand, the significance of which is not yet adequately recognised. As New Zealand houses get older the damage to timbers accumulates and attacked timbers become progressively weaker. It is not uncommon for weatherboards, floorboards, joists and other structural timbers to need replacing due to weakness caused by borer. The holes and labyrinths created by borer larvae also allow water to penetrate many timbers and increases rot by fungi.

The larvae (woodworm), after 2 - 4 years spent tunnelling inside the wood will exit as the adult beetle via a round hole 1 - 2mm in diameter. Cutting out this trapdoor is their final wood destroying act. They emerge in order to breed, will not eat any more timber and will die within 3 - 4 weeks.

Life cycles

Anobium spp.

Egg-larvae 14-28 days
Larvae-pupae 2-3 years
Pupae-adult 21-60 days
Adult-beetle 3-4 weeks

> Exits October - February.
> Rounded holes 1-2mm.
> Attacks only soft sapwoods.

Other Borer - The Longhorn borer beetles include the Two-Toothed Longhorn, Ambeodontus tristis, Burnt Pine Longhorn and Huhu grub beetles. The grubs or larvae of these beetles feed on dead timber and the Two-Tooth is a major pest damaging timbers in buildings and damaging timber in the timber industry.

Longhorn beetle family is a large and diverse beetle family, with 180+ species endemic to New Zealand. They are long, with narrow bodies and very long antennae. The adult beetles may be found on flowers where they feed on nectar but the adults of some species adults do not feed at all. The huhu beetle is one of the largest New Zealand beetles.

Because the Longhorn beetles are much larger than house borer beetles the labyrinths and flight holes of these beetles is correspondingly larger. The larvae of Two-Tooth borer often cause severe damage to rimu floors and other timbers. As well as being larger than common borer flight holes, the Two Tooth Borer flight holes are approximately 3-4mm across, the flight holes of Longhorn beetles tend to be oval rather than round.

Damage caused by the Two Tooth Borer beetle larvae and other longhorn beetles can be controlled by the same treatment as for common house borer.

Ambeodontus tristis (New Zealand Native)

> Two Toothed Longhorn.
> 5 - 7 years inside wood.
> Exits March-May.
> Oval holes 2mm x 6mm.
> Attacks soft & heart wood.

Did you know?

Other wood boring insects causing damage to building timbers include the Longhorn Beetles such as the Two-Toothed Longhorn and Burnt Pine Longhorn beetles. These are much larger beetles that the common house borer and consequently their larvae produce larger labyrinths and flight holes. Two-Tooth Borer in particular cause major damage to building timber and readily attack rimu. The following measures will control Longhorn damage as well as common borer and other wood boring insects.

Tips

The solvents used with NO BORER concentrate and ready to use to carry insecticide deep into the timbers will leave a solvent smell for some days. Ventilation will help to dissipate the odour more rapidly.

NO BUGS BUG BOMB can be used in place of NO BUG BORAFUME FUMIGATORS as the borer bombs.

Gallery

Borer damage to floor board Borer damage to wooden architrave Adult borer beetle approx. 3mm Cross section of floor board timber showing greater borer damage to underside which is the dark side.