Anobium punctatum
Common Furniture Beetle
The UK's most common woodworm — behind roughly three quarters of all home infestations. Small, treatable and rarely an emergency, but not one to ignore.
- Tell-tale sign: crisp 1–2mm round exit holes
- A 3–4 year larval stage does all the damage
- Treated in a day with a 30-year guarantee
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Overview
The woodworm you are most likely to find
If you have spotted small round holes in a floorboard, a joist or an old chest of drawers, the common furniture beetle is by far the most likely cause. It is responsible for around three quarters of all woodworm in British homes — so common that "woodworm" and "furniture beetle" are often used to mean the same thing.
The good news is that it is one of the more straightforward species to deal with. It attacks the sapwood rather than the dense heartwood, it works slowly, and it responds well to standard professional treatment. Caught at a reasonable stage, it rarely threatens the structure of a house. The key is to confirm that the infestation is active and to treat it before the damage spreads.
Identification
How to recognise it
You will almost always see the damage before you see the beetle. Four features give it away.
The adult beetle
A small, reddish-brown to dark-brown beetle, 2.7–4.5mm long, with a hump-backed thorax that hides the head from above and neat rows of tiny pits down its wing cases. You may see them near windows on warm days in late spring and summer.
The exit holes
Crisp, circular holes of 1–2mm across — about the size of a pin head. Pale, clean-edged holes suggest recent activity; dark, weathered holes are often old. The holes are where adults emerged, not where the larvae entered.
Bore dust (frass)
Fine, gritty, biscuit-coloured powder that collects below the holes on floors, skirting and windowsills. It feels faintly sandy between the fingers — under a lens you can see tiny lemon-shaped pellets. Fresh frass appearing after cleaning is a strong sign of active infestation.
Tunnels and weak wood
Beneath the surface the larvae leave a network of tunnels packed with frass. In heavy cases the timber feels light, crumbles at the edges or sounds hollow when tapped, and old floorboards can flex underfoot.
Lifecycle
A three to four year lifecycle
Almost the entire life of the beetle is spent hidden inside the wood as a larva. That is why an infestation can run quietly for years before the first holes appear.
Egg
In late spring and summer, the female lays 20–60 eggs in cracks, joints and old exit holes in bare timber. They hatch in two to five weeks.
Larva
The creamy-white, C-shaped larva is the woodworm itself. It tunnels through the sapwood eating cellulose for three to four years — this is the stage that does all the damage.
Pupa
When fully grown, the larva pupates in a chamber just below the surface, transforming into an adult over a few weeks.
Adult beetle
The adult chews its way out, leaving a fresh 1–2mm round hole, then lives just two to four weeks — long enough to mate and lay the next generation.
Because new adults emerge each year and immediately lay eggs back into the same timber, an untreated infestation rolls on generation after generation. The flight season — roughly May to August — is the best time to confirm activity, but treatment can be carried out at any time of year.
Life cycle
How the Common Furniture Beetle develops
Eggs laid in cracks
Larvae tunnel (3-4 yrs)
Pupation near surface
Adult exits leaving holes
Where it is found
It attacks the sapwood of both softwoods and hardwoods, which covers most building and furniture timber. The classic locations are suspended floorboards and joists, roof rafters and lofts, staircases, and the unseen backs and undersides of older furniture. Cool, slightly damp, poorly ventilated timber — under floors and in neglected roof spaces — is most at risk.
The damage it does
Each larva tunnels for years, and a large colony riddles the sapwood with interconnected galleries. The surface can look almost untouched while the wood beneath is weakened. In severe, long-running cases — typically in damp sub-floors or lofts — joist ends and floorboards can lose enough strength to need repair or replacement.
How worried to be
Moderate. The furniture beetle is slow and treatable, and most homes are perfectly safe once it has been dealt with. It only becomes serious when it is left for many years, or when persistent damp lets it thrive. The sensible response is not panic but a survey — confirm whether it is active, then treat it.
Treatment
How the furniture beetle is treated
The standard professional treatment is a water-based permethrin insecticidal spray, applied to all affected timber and the sound timber immediately around it. It kills larvae near the surface and any adults emerging to breed, and it leaves a protective residue so newly laid eggs do not survive. Treated timber is touch-dry within a few hours and most homes are finished in a single day.
Where timber is thick, structural or awkward to reach — joist ends bedded into damp walls, for example — a surveyor may specify boron paste to drive the preservative deeper. If a survey finds an underlying damp problem, that is treated too, because dry, well-ventilated timber is the single best long-term defence against re-infestation. Every job comes with a written treatment certificate and a 30-year guarantee, which is useful for mortgage surveys and property sales.
Before any chemical treatment in a roof space, a check for bats is essential — all UK bat species are legally protected. A professional surveyor will flag this and advise on the right approach. You can read the full process, including pricing, on our woodworm treatment page.
Related guides
Signs of woodworm
Spot the seven signs and tell an active infestation from an old, dormant one.
Learn more →Woodworm treatment
The full survey-to-certificate process, methods and what to expect.
Learn more →Death watch beetle
The hardwood specialist that does the serious structural damage.
Learn more →Frequently asked questions
How do I know if it is the common furniture beetle and not another species?
Is the common furniture beetle dangerous to my house?
How is common furniture beetle treated?
Will the furniture beetle come back after treatment?
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