Woodworm entry holes

[harryd]

I understand that the holes we see in wood and associate with woodworm infestation are exit holes. My question is, how do the woodworm get in to the wood, and what traces do they leave of their entry? It would be much more useful, in terms of treatment, to be able to identify their presence from evidence of entry than to squirt poison down the hole that tells you the worm is long gone.
Does anyone have images of entry holes, or am I on the wrong track entirely?

 

[Eric The Viking]

They are laid as eggs (mostly). I am not a biologist, but I believe both the egg and the ovipositor of most woodworm species are much smaller than the final stage of the grub (which makes its exit). So you would struggle to see them.

Some species, such as Oak Boring Beetle (so named because of its inability to tell decent jokes at parties) do bore in, creating brood chambers in the wood and a great deal of damage, although oddly they have a symbiosis with a fungus, which actually does the damage to the oak's internal structure.

 

[harryd]

Thank you, Eric,
What seems to be the case is that very small eggs are laid, not on the surface of the wood, but in cracks or under splinters. They are so small that they are very hard to see, and the newly hatched larvae are so small that their points of entry are pretty well invisible.
That sounds about right to me.

 

[Sheffield Tony]

This does have the happy consequence that many wood boring creatures pose no threat to finished furniture, without bark or cracks for egg laying. I was pleased to discover this when I brought in some logs for the fire that had more life in them than I'd realised !

 

[Suffolkboy]

Totally off topic so apologies but has anyone heard of Dendroctonus micans?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendroctonus_micans

Really destructive to forestry crops, particularly Spruce of course. I went to a talk on tree disease by Forest Research and the guy giving the talk was fascinating, a total beetle boffin. His talk started with the life cycle and habits of the beetle and how the understanding of that had led to the discovery of and the understanding of it's relationship with a beetle called Rizophagus grandis or, "The Predator."

They now use "The Predator" to manage Dendroctonus.

https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/resea ... rk-beetle/

If anyone gets the chance to attend a tree health event. Go. It's fascinating and there are some really knowledgeable and passionate people in the field, also, anyone that imports or is involved in the importing of exotic timber, or anything that comes in or on wooden pallets or packaging from abroad should definitely know what to look for to protect our domestic timber crops and countryside.