Urban Timber Pest Beetles: Risks and Management - Urban Insect Pests: Sustainable Management Strategies - page 160

Preservatives

ently resulted in a reduction of the overall
borer risk (Berry et al ., 1993). This is shown
by reduced palatability in studies of heat
treatments (Militz, 2002; Esteves and
Pereira, 2008; Rep et al ., 2011; Oliver-
Villanueva et al ., 2013).

Where the main threat is from furniture
beetle, timbers may be rendered resistant
with the industrial application of insecti-
cides or preservatives to timber before
delivery. Despite the variety of international
standards in force, there is a general
understanding of the hazard classes of these
chemicals to be applied on timbers. The
main classes used are H1 for dry interior
timber (risks such as Lyctus brunneus ), H2
for damp interior timbers (risks such as
Anobium punctatum ), H3 for exterior,
above ground timbers and H4 for exterior
timber with in-ground exposure (Van Acker
et al ., 2003; Morris, 2008). In general, the
insecticide retention levels required for
beetle control are below those required for
termites and marine borers.
Timber may be rendered resistant by the
application of preservative or insecticides
but care must be taken to ensure that all
exposed surfaces are coated so that egg
laying is prevented. This includes the
timber ends that are to be jointed, including
the underside even though it apparently sits
fl at on another surface. If it is certain that
the timber to be used does not already
contain an infestation, then the application
of surface sealant without insecticide such
as paint or varnish as an envelope treatment
may provide adequate service by deterring
future egg laying.

Monitoring and active management

Monitoring and preventative actions can
minimize the impact of pests. A survey by
Berry et al . (1993) reported a trend of
reducing incidence of Anobium punctatum
infestation. This trend is driven by risk
management actions to control infestations
and a reduction of new infestations through
more durable construction. This beetle
attacks older, moist timbers so the chance of
it occurring in any building is a complex
function of construction, maintenance effort
and age.

Conclusion

Our knowledge of the biology and behaviour
of timber infesting beetles is scant. Little is
known of their digestive needs, and further
research might provide rich insight and
control methods. Genetics now dominates
and the increase in university-based
metagenetic research is likely to mean that
some of the knowledge gaps will become
fi lled (Kloet et al ., 2011; Ji et al ., 2013). The
recently completed mitochondrial genome
of a cerambycid beetle (Wang et al ., 2013)
should provide knowledge on both
biochemistry and phylogeny of the beetles.
Molecular tools are also being used to
predict invasive potential of beetles (Raje,
2012). There is renewed interest in the
chemical ecology of pest beetles and
identifi cation of pheromones suitable for
trapping, particularly among cerambycids
(Millar and Hanks, 2013).
The popular success of sniffer dogs in
the areas of termite and bed bug detection is
driving interest in electronic odour detec-
tion and identifi cation. Sniffer dogs have
been used successfully with the Asian long
horned

Use of resistant timber

Some species of tree provide timbers that,
when properly prepared and placed, are
naturally resistant to beetles over their
service life. Unfortunately these timbers
tend to be slow growing and more expensive
than susceptible alternatives. A simpler
approach is to avoid those timbers favoured
by the local pest species. For example,
Lyctus are almost unknown except in the
sapwood of hardwoods so substituting pine
manages the risk. In the wealthy economies,
the gradual change of framing supply from
slowly air-dried timber to quickly (high
temperature) kiln-dried timber has appar-

beetle (Hoyer-Tomiczek and