POWDER-POST BEETLE

any member of the approximately 90 species of the small, widely distributed insect family Lyctidae (order Coleoptera). These beetles range in colour from reddish brown to black and in size from 1 to 7 mm (up to 0.3 inch). The larvae bore through seasoned wood, reducing it to a dry powder; they do not, however, enter varnished or painted wood. Powder-post beetle holes are often erroneously considered to be evidence of the antiquity of a wooden object.