Woodboring beetle

Common name for a beetle that eats wood

The term woodboring beetle encompasses many species and families of beetles whose larval or adult forms eat and destroy wood (i. e., are xylophagous). In the woodworking industry, larval stages of some are sometimes referred to as woodworms. The three most species rich families of woodboring beetles are longhorn beetles, bark beetles and weevils, and metallic flat headed borers. Woodboring is thought to be the ancestral ecology of beetles, and bores made by beetles in fossil wood extend back to the earliest fossil record of beetles in the Early Permian (Asselian), around 295 300 million years ago.

Woodboring beetles most often attack dying or dead trees. In forest settings, they are important in the turnover of trees by culling weak trees, thus allowing new growth to occur. They are also important as primary decomposers of trees within forest systems, allowing for the recycling of nutrients locked away in the relatively decay resilient woody material of trees. To develop and reach maturity woodboring beetles need nutrients provided by fungi from outside of the inhabited wood. These nutrients are not only assimilated into the beetles' bodies but also are concentrated in their frass, contributing to soil nutrients cycles. Though the vast majority of woodboring beetles are ecologically important and economically benign, some species can become economic pests by attacking relatively healthy trees (e. g. Asian longhorn beetle, emerald ash borer) or by infesting downed trees in lumber yards. Species such as the Asian longhorn beetle and the emerald ash borer are examples of invasive species that threaten natural forest ecosystems.