Larvae of the old house borer feed on seasoned softwoods and prefer the sapwood portions of pine, spruce and fir. Sometimes larvae are serious pests in modern log homes as well as conventional homes. Houses less than 10 years old are primarily attacked contrary to the name of old house borer.

• Full grown larvae can be heard boring in the wood, making a rhythmic ticking or rasping sound much like the sound of a mouse gnawing
• Adult old house borers are beetles 5/8 to 1 inch long, slightly flattened, brownish-black with many gray hairs on the head and thorax, two prominent black bumps on the prothorax and long antennae.
• The thorax (segment behind the head) has a shiny ridge down the middle and a shiny raised knob on each side, appearing as a face with a pair of eyes.
• Wing covers are marked with whitish spots that form two irregular bands or spots near the middle.
• Larvae are up to 1-1/4 inches long and have tiny ocelli (black eye spots) on each side of the head. T
• hey are flesh-colored, wedge-shaped (wider at the head), and segmented with legs present.
• Pupae are flesh-colored and about the size of the beetle. Eggs are white to grayish-white.