Distinguish Termite Damage from Other Insects

Wood infested by subterranean termites will usually show their earthen tubes attached to the wood, or the galleries of infested wood lined and spotted with a hard, adobe-like material. Drywood and dampwood termites have galleries packed with pellets.

Since powderpost beetles also bore into wood, their work is sometimes confused with that of termites. Powderpost beetle damage can be distinguished by the small circular holes formed by the emerging beetles, as well as by the extremely fine borings (frass) which come out of the holes.

The work of the deathwatch beetle of the family Anobiidae is often confused with that of termites. They honeycomb wood with their tunneling. Old infested pieces of lumber show numerous emergence holes. Their pellets may be distinguished from the pellets of the drywood termite by their long, narrow shape and pointed ends.

The tunnels produced by the larvae of the true woodboring beetles of the families of Cermabycidae and Buprestidae may also be confused with termite galleries. However, their burrows are wide, flat and plugged here and there with a fibrous, coarse, saw-dust-like material.

Carpenter ants, unlike termites, excavate wood not as a source of food, but merely to provide a home. The ant chambers, unlike those of the termite, are always free of frass and refuse. These chambers resemble the clean chambers of the drywood termite, but lack the pellets present in the chambers of the latter.