HOUSE BORER

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22509, 17 September 1938, Page 22

HOUSE BORER

TO TBI ISITOI Of TBI P»M. : "SirV —In answer to the inquiry of "Borer" concerning the pestiferous insect which is supposed to penetrate timber and so cause premature decay, I should like to state a few things which I have gathered from my own experience. The real borer is a very dark blue fly about one inch long. Underneath the abdomen is concealed a saw with three or four teeth to it. When the fly is settled on the trunk of a tree it works exactly as' a man does when he saws through a piece of timber. Having made the hole large enough for its purpose, it then deposits its eggs and departs to continue its work on some other tree. I have had the good fortune to observe this destructive insect at work from the very start, having been at work in the Government plantations. This is a very brief account of the true borer, but the history of the house borer is entirely different. If your correspondent wishes to find out for himself, let him examine the timber which he knows to be affected and there he will find a very small wormlike insect, pink in colour, with a head similar to that of a caterpillar. This creature does not breed of itself, because it is nothing more than the common result of what is known as wood rot. This rotting or decaying Erooess commences as soon as the timer is seasoned and ready for utilitarian purposes. As soon. as man begins to build up, Nature starts to pull down. It is an order of creation and nothing will ever prevent its operation. You may paint your timber with creosote, linseed oil, or tar; it will avail nothing, for time has so determinedly set its mark upon it to weaken and finally to destroy the very thing we have so assiduously employed our labour to preserve.—Yours, etc., ' W. MOSDELL. September 13, 1938.

TO THB ZDITOB OT THB PBKBB. Sir,—ln reply to your correspondent "Borer," there is no doubt he is taking a very grave risk in bringing sec-ond-hand borer-infested timber near his home. Infection is always liable to spread to the house and furniture. ~Research has proved that the activities of the- pest continue throughout the year and that, in the case of some species, the larvae will live in the timber for many years before emerging as a beetle. The Anobium beetle emerges on any warm day, and several have been noticed during the warm spell "this week. In the case of the Long Horn Borer, the beetle emerges towards the late summer and autumn. Many, "beetles were captured on a recent research job in the early part of July.. Apart from any scientific treatment which can-be carried out for the control of borer, it is always necessary for the property owner to keep a watchful, eye on possible infection from timber, which may be carried on to the etc., U i BORER-CURE. September 15. 1938.