# Can beetles eat my house?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-beetles-eat-my-house/420192>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 23, 2007, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-beetles-eat-my-house/420192 "2007-09-23T13:44:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![solkoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@solkoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solkoe)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-beetles-eat-my-house/420192/1 "2007-09-23T13:44:45Z")

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I keep finding beetles wandering around my house. Sorry, I do not having any pictures but they are about the size of a nickel and have a tan colouring. I can also sometimes hear a gnawing sound in the walls. I have not found a lot, maybe one a day, but I am concerned that there are millions of them and that by spring my house will be a pile of sawdust.  
Any ideas?

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**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-beetles-eat-my-house/420192/2 "2007-09-23T18:04:28Z")

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[Look like any of these](http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2090.html)?

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**Author:** ![solkoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@solkoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solkoe)\
**Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-beetles-eat-my-house/420192/3 "2007-09-24T01:36:46Z")

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[QUOTE=danceswithcats]  
[Look like any of these](http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2090.html)?  
[/QUOTE]

It could be. The article says that the beetles are usually brought into the house. Since my house is old, I can’t think of any new or old wood object that we’ve brought into the house.  
I will have too look into the darker recesses of the house. I will also have to capture one of the bad boys. The problem is that I usually find them in the middle of the night and am in no mood to do anything but flush them.  
Thanks for the reply.

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**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\
**Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-beetles-eat-my-house/420192/4 "2007-09-24T02:25:56Z")

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You might also want to investigate these:

[http://www.ext.vt.edu/departments/entomology/factsheets/oldhouse.html](http://www.ext.vt.edu/departments/entomology/factsheets/oldhouse.html)

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