In quiet surroundings you may hear a rasping or ticking sound that is made by tunneling larvae. This is the best way to detect larvae of the old house borer. Their ticking is sometimes audible several feet from where they are working. By determining the source of the sound and by probing the wood with a sharp tool, you can locate the tunnels. A further aid is to look for blistered wood.
Sometimes the larvae of cerambycid beetles can be heard working beneath bark on green or partially seasoned wood. They frequently are found in firewood. They resemble the old house borer, but they have different habits and do not infest seasoned wood. When the adults emerge, they seek more green wood to attack. If they cannot escape from the building, they die in a few days.
WHAT TO DO
Consider whether the control problem is one that you can handle yourself or whether it is one that requires the services of a pest-control operator.
If you have a severe infestation, or one that is behind paneled or plastered walls, or in some other hard-to-reach place, it may be that only an experienced pest-control operator with the proper equipment can do a satisfactory job.
If the infestation is light and easy to reach, you may be able to handle the control job yourself. Spraying or brush-coating the wood with an insecticide may suffice.
If wood has been so badly damaged that its structural strength is impaired, it should be replaced. Coordinate the repair work with the control work.
Spraying or Brushing
Beetles that make numerous small holes in the surface of wood are controlled by saturating the wood with a deodorized kerosene, such as deobase or ultrasene, which contains either 5 percent DDT, 2 percent chlordane, 0.5 percent dieldrin, or 0.5 percent lindane.
With 1 gallon of any of these materials you can treat at least 100 square feet of wood surface. Use no more of the material in a single application than is needed to wet the surface. Repeat the application until the wood is saturated. Apply with a garden sprayer or a paintbrush.