Deathwatch Beetle Treatment

The Deathwatch beetle is an indigenous British insect which due to its habits has been well known for several hundred years. It was given the name Xestbbium rufovillosum by De Geer in 1774 which is the name now commonly used although in older text the name tessellatum was used.

The Deathwatch beetle outside habitats consist of dead wood in trees or dead branches of several hardwood species where fungal decay occurs, a common situation being the dead wood in the trunk or crown of pollard willows. Oak, ash and sweet chestnut are also commonly infested by this species and hornbeam, poplar and whitehorn more rarely.

Indoors, Deathwatch infests hardwood structural timber which has at sometime had a fungal infection. Oak is the most common timber attacked but chestnut, elm alder and walnut are sometimes infested. There are times when softwood is attacked if it is adjacent to infested hardwood but the attack originated in the hardwood.

The Deathwatch infested timber can appear quite sound yet the rich choclate brown colour of the tunneled timber make it very probable that the living tree from which the timber was converted was attacked by the beef steak fungus, Fistulina hepatica. This is the fungus which produces brown oak. In other instances the cellar fungus Coniophora cerebella causing wet rot and Phellinus cryptarum and Polystictus versicolor causing white rots. Have brought about the incipient breakdown of the wood required by the beetle. This means the larva requires the wood to be partially predigested for it.

This phenomenon is a common occurrence amongst some wood boring beetles, but other common species such as the Common furniture beetle, Anobium punctatum and the House Longhorn, Hylotrupes bajules feed on sound wood in buildings where fungal infection is apparently absent.

Death watch beetles are incapable of flight, only using there wing cases to steady themselves. So how do they infest our homes, well this means the infestation was already in the timber when used for construction purposes, it's always been their.

These woodborer beetles create tapping or clicking sounds to attract mates. This tapping can be heard in old building rafters during quiet nights. The name Deathwatch Beetle is due to the association with quiet sleepless nights and are named for the vigil kept beside the dying or dead.

These wood boring insects require a different approach when it comes to deathwatch beetle treatment this is because the way they burrow into the timber they inhabit. The way we get rid of this timber pest is to understand its biology thats why our deathwatch beetle treatments are so effective.

Deathwatch Beetle Treatment Advice

Deathwatch beetle treatment requires a different treatment compared to common furniture beetle. The Deathwatch beetle is a deep wood borer and needs to have insecticide added to the centre of timbers. This specialised work needs to be carried by experts in Deathwatch beetle infestions and have structual knowledge of timber and building experience. Deathwatch beetle treatments are available for all types of propertys including those with listed building status. For deathwatch beetle infestations it is very important to treat all timbers correctly or risk further structual damage. All Deathwatch beetle treatments come with a 30 yr Guarantee

Deathwatch beetle treatment cost

Deathwatch beetle treatment costs vary according to type and size of the property involed as each out break or infestation can spread in different ways and attack different size beams or other large timber structure within the building. We offer a free deathwatch beetle treatment survey to help indentify what each clients needs with there particular problem.

Deathwatch beetle identification

The Death Watch Beetle is a wood boring beetle, typically sized between 6mm - 9mm, the females slightly larger than the males and larvae growing up to 11mm long. It is dark greyish brown in color with a pattern of yellowish scale like hairs on the pronotum and wing cases. The wing cases how ever often become rubbed when the colour may be more reddish and shining. The longitudinal rows of small pits on the wing cases, present in Anobium punctatum are absent in Deathwatch.

The pronotum which is much more widley flanged, hoods over the head just as in Common furniture beetle, Death watch is in the same family the ANOBIIDAE as the Common furniture beetle Anobium punctatum.

The tapping of the adult beetles is a well known phenomenon. Both sexes tap and it's the sound of the tapping in the quiet hours of the night in a sick room which has given it is common name.

In captivity the adults can be stimulated to tap by four or five sharpe raps with a pencil. The tapping is believed to be helpful when looking for a mate. When the Death watch beetle is about to tap, it's body stiffens and pushes it's body up into an arch. It then strikes it's head against the wood about seven or eight times within a second.

Deathwatch beetle damage

These wood boring beetles can destroy timbers within 6 months of laying there larva into wood. Large roof timbers can suffer structual failure quickly if left untreated. The Deathwatch larva are large and eat through the centre of large beams leaving lots of large tunnels in the damaged timber. A full survey is needed to find the full extent of the infestation.

Deathwatch Beetle? Where would I find the

The Deathwatch Beetle causes woodworm problems particulary in Southern/Central England. The further North in the UK you travel this woodworm beetle is rarer and in Scotland virtually absent. This beetle prefers European hardwards, inlcuding oak, ash and chestnut. Especially wood that has been softened with dry or wet rot.

The larvae tend to tunnel torwards the centre of the timber resulting in extensive damage that can often be hidden from view on the outside of the timber.