Types of Woodboring

It is well known that fungal infestations and attacks by wood boring insects, such as: termites, beetles and moths, among others, can cause serious damage to timbered structures and objects.

The replacement or rehabilitation of the decayed structures requires a large financial investment and, when it comes to artistic or cultural goods, the damage may well be irreversible.

Traditionally, people have resorted to using chemical insecticides to combat the onslaught of these pests. The first synthetic insecticides used were organochlorine compounds, which are characterized by its long residual action.

Because organochlorides are persistent organic compounds, they can cause the pollution of soil, water and atmosphere. For instance, nowadays its use has been banned.

Subsequently were used chemicals with lower environmental impact and variable toxicity, such as: those belonging to the group of organophosphates, carbonates and pyrethroids – which are derivatives of the pyrethrins extracted from the chrysanthemum flower.

However, the use of such chemicals can lead to the following underlying problems:

1. Low specific toxicity levels, which can result in:

Harm to people directly or indirectly exposed to the chemical.
Harm to other species, which may cause ecological imbalances and the elimination of other useful or protected species.
The extermination of natural predators of the plague.

2. Failure of long-term effectiveness as insects can develop chemical resistance to the product, which might be genetically transmitted to descendants.

3. Low effectiveness in warm weather because non-aqueous media for the manufacture of pesticides has been prohibited by new global regulations.

In addition, as a direct consequence of its physical properties, application mode and compatibility with materials, traditionally disinfestations systems have some obvious shortcomings:

In the case of liquid insecticides, the hydrophobic behavior of the timber prevents the absorption of the product, so it can reach just at superficial level. Furthermore, the high toxicity of the components of gaseous insecticides - i.e. carbon dioxide, bromide, phosphine, etc. - turn them into a serious risk to health, while prevent to use the space during the implementation period of treatment.

TYPES OF XYLOPHAGES

Diverse types of insects lives inside wood and use it as their feed source. The different varieties of these Xylophages species found would depend on the moisture content of the structures and the environment.

The most common ones are:

Termites

Belong to the order of Isoptera, in reference to the fact of presenting two pairs of wings of equal size when reaching adulthood. Termites are social insects, whose power source is cellulose, so that attack wood, paper and cotton in search of food.

A termite colony is usually composed of a wide variety of individuals; were the most visible are ‘workers termites’. Despite its resemblance to ants, worker termites are distinguished by their creamy white and their slow movements. Similarly, during their winged states, termites have fuller bodies, straight antennae and fore and hind wings are of similar size.

Although its main food source is cellulose, termites do not hesitate to eat other materials: plastic, light metal and textiles. They live in community, whether in underground galleries -Subterranean Termite "Reticulitermes lucifugus" -, or in the presence of high humidity - dry wood termites "Kalotermes flavicolis".

Types of termites:

Subterranean Termites:

Requires a moist environment to survive, usually in natural soil. In dry environments, they dehydrated easily.

Its main nest or colony is usually found in soil. No clutch, if moisture is present, it is possible to find satellite nests in buildings. They specialize in building tunnels for protection (clay, wood fiber and saliva), which allows them to move from floor to build, maintain a moist environment and protection from predators. They can also pass through elements of concrete and other materials, which are not fed, if there are cracks larger than 1 mm thick.

• They feed off cellulose, found in wood or any of its derivatives (paper, cardboard, chipboard, etc ....).
• The mound is usually located in the basement and found more than 40 yards from where their signals are detected.
• They have a negative phototropism (afraid of light), so that access to the wood house (beams, windows and door frames, baseboards, furniture, townhouses, etc ...), from the inside and through walls. In some cases, when they are in front of a harsh wall or when an exchange of moisture and / or temperature accurate, they go outside the walls, forming characteristic tunnels, made of sand and cemented by saliva and excrement.

Drywood Termites:

Lives in environments with low moisture content, therefore, can fly into buildings and establish colonies in dry wood, ignoring the physical barriers that are used for other termites.
Such termites can be combated by the use of preserved wood and eradicated by fumigation or heat treatment.

Their mounds are usually dug inside the wood forming colonies from 1000 to 1500 individuals. The colonies could be found inside furniture, boxes, frames, doors, beams, living and dead trees. They are also capable of nesting in plywood panels. A typical feature of these type termites is its small fecal pellets, which falls from the attacked object or fills its galleries. The development of their colonies is slow, but structural damage can be severe an infestation of multiple colonies.

Unlike subterranean termites, dry wood termites do not have a great ability to move.
Dry wood termites cannot penetrate walls, but infest wood in contact or very close to them (foreign channels making small, very short and really unstable, since they are formed in their fecal pellets).

The capricorns

They attack the frames of dry softwoods (pine, fir, spruce), and feed by digging in galleries. They are located mainly in the frame and apparently they don’t leave any trace on the surface of the wood, but the noise produced while devouring the timber can be heard. Damage: Galleries 6 to 8 mm in diameter filled with "flour" that escapes through the oval holes opened by the insect when it leaves the wood.

The Woodworm

They attack the furniture. Smallest woodworms prefer to attack conifers and deciduous woods. Adult woodworms have preference by old coniferous or broadleaved woods previously attacked. Damage: Galleries 1 to 3 mm in diameter filled with "flour" (sawdust), fairly thick. The holes collected at the surface are opened by the insect to escape.

The Lyctidae

They attack dry hardwood which is rich in starch and certain exotic wood furniture, batten panels, windows and doors. The larva attacks all leafy or resinous wood old.

Damage: Galleries of 1 mm oriented in the direction of the fibers of wood, filled with "flour" extremely fine and crowded. The insect escapes through the holes open on the surface of the wood.