COMMON AND SCIENTIFIC NAMES
OF INSECTS DISCUSSED

Southern lyctus beetleLyctus planicollis
Common furniture beetleAnobium punctatum
Death-watch beetleXestobium rufovillosum
Old house borerHylotrupes bajulus
Red-shouldered shothole borerXylobiops basilaris
Black-horned pine borerCallidium antennatum
Bamboo powder-post beetleDinoderus minutus
Bamboo borerChlorophorus annularis

KINDS

Powder-post beetles are divided into five groups—lyctus beetles, anobiid beetles, bostrichid beetles, cerambycid beetles, and cossonid weevils.

Lyctus beetles are reddish to blackish, about ¼ inch long, and slightly flattened. One common species is known as the southern lyctus beetle.

Anobiid beetles are similar to lyctus beetles in color and size, but are cylindrical. The common furniture beetle and the death-watch beetle belong in this group.

Bostrichid beetles are reddish, brown, or black; they are ⅛ to ¾ inch long, and cylindrical.

The heads of anobiids and bostrichids are directed downward and are covered by a "hood."

The cerambycids, also known as roundheaded or long-horned beetles, are blue, black, or pale yellow to reddish brown, and often bear distinctive markings on the head or the wing covers. They are ½ to 1 inch long, and vary in shape. The old house borer belongs in this group. It is black, and has grayish markings on the wing covers. It is about ¾ inch long.

Cossonid weevils are reddish brown or black, ⅛ to ⅕ inch long, and oval to cylindrical. Their heads are drawn out to form a short, broad beak. Cossonids are the only weevils that infest wood; other weevils infest grain or growing crops.