woodworm

Common name for the larval stage of certain wood-boring beetles. Dead or injured trees are their natural target, but they also attack structural timber and furniture.

Included are the furniture beetle Anobium punctatum, which attacks older timber; the powder-post beetle genus Lyctus, which attacks newer timber; the deathwatch beetle, whose presence always coincides with fungal decay; and wood-boring weevils. Special wood preservatives have been developed to combat woodworm infestation, which has markedly increased since about 1950.