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Woodworm holes and burrows exposed in wooden floorboard. The first step in pest control is prevention. Particularly important in this respect is to keep the timber dry - below 16% moisture content. A relative humidity within the building above 60% may lead to an infestation, and timber moisture content below 12% is too dry for an infection to ...
Wood affected by woodworm. Signs of woodworm usually consist of holes in the wooden item, with live infestations showing powder (faeces), known as frass, around the holes.. The size of the holes varies, but they are typically 1 to 1.5 millimetres (5 ⁄ 128 to 1 ⁄ 16 in) in diameter for the most common household species, although they can be much larger in the case of the house longhorn beet
The source of infection is from objects contaminated with fecal matter containing eggs. [2] Ingestion of infective eggs from soil contaminated with human feces or contaminated vegetables and water is the primary route of infection. Infectious eggs may occur on objects such as hands, money, and furniture. [2]
Fragment of a broomstick affected by woodworm. Woodboring beetles are commonly detected a few years after new construction. The lumber supply may have contained wood infected with beetle eggs or larvae, and since beetle life cycles can be one or more years, several years may pass before the presence of beetles becomes noticeable.
The larvae of a number of species tend to bore into wood, earning them the name "woodworm" or "wood borer". A few species, such as the common furniture beetle, Anobium punctatum , are pests, causing damage to wooden furniture and house structures.
The steely blue beetle (Korynetes caeruleus) is a predator of the deathwatch beetle and of the common furniture beetle (Anobium punctatum). The adult female blue beetle lays her eggs in the exit holes made by the emerging borers, and the carnivorous larvae wander through the galleries made by the wood-borers, feeding on their larvae. [11]
Heavy infections however cause a range of health problems, including abdominal pain, diarrhoea, blood and protein loss, rectal prolapse, and physical and mental retardation. Severe ascariasis is typically a pneumonia , as the larvae invade lungs , producing fever , cough and dyspnoea during early stage of infection.
It enters through small cuts in the skin to cause a fungal infection. [1] In cases of sporotrichosis affecting the lungs, the fungal spores enter by inhalation. [1] Sporotrichosis can be acquired by handling cats with the disease; it is an occupational hazard for veterinarians. [1] Treatment depends on the site and extent of infection. [1]