HUSBOCK Hylotrupes bajulus L.
10-20 mm. Elytra and thorax a dark gray with two pair of lighter gray horizontal bands on elytra, starkt glänsande bucklor. Husbocken is common in forested areas of Sweden especially from Skåne till Ång. (norrut med luckor i utbredningen), and is one of the most important pests of structural wood. Females lay eggs with a long ovipositor (at end of abdomen) deep in cracks in large wooden beams and posts. Larvae develop for several years inside the wood and tunnel extensively, destroying the wood and its capability to support weight. Boring dust is pushed out of holes in the wood and is good evidence of their activities. In the past, the only way to prevent these cerambycid beetles from infesting structural timbers was to impregnate the wood chemically.
The above text from:
Landin, B.O. (1961) Insekter i Färg. Almqvist & Wiksell/Gebers Förlag AB, Stockholm. (p. 96).
However, there is a drawback since most impregnation chemicals are slightly volatile and therefore evaporate slowly over the years. Since the impregnation chemicals are somewhat toxic to very toxic, they can have insidious consequences for human and animal health over these long periods of exposure (this is my opinion - John Byers).
scanned picture by John Byers from:
Adlerz, G. (1916) Svenska Skalbaggar i Urval. P.A. Norstedt & Söners Förlag, Stockholm.