QUESTION:

I have an attic that has very tiny pinholes in the floor joists and lots of dirt around the area. The house is buried on three sides. Any ideas what I might be dealing with other than termites?

ANSWER:

I may need another cup of coffee Kevin, but I am having a hard time forming a picture of this home in my mind, since you describe it as buried on three sides. However, if you have actual dirt around the wood members in the attic of this home this strongly suggests subterranean termites. They would be the only insects that really move dirt up into the structure, and that dirt would normally be in the form of mud tubing created by the termites for their movement on the outside of the wood. If this is just dirt laying around then something else could be involved. I suggest taking some of it and putting it under really good magnification. This is one reason I am a strong advocate that every pest control company ought to have a dissecting microscope in the office. How else are you going to be able to take that necessary close examination of very little things - stuff on glue traps, tiny beetles, etc.

I once was handed a baggie of what looked like dirt, and which was found in piles next to a fireplace inside a home. Under close examination with a dissecting microscope it suddenly very clearly showed that it was not dirt, but instead was thousands of little pieces of insect parts. In this case there was a major ant infestation within the hollow areas around this fireplace, and the ants were tossing out all the debris from their nest, much as carpenter ants do. Since many ants feed on other insects this is what the debris was composed of, but to the naked eye is was just dirt. So, a careful examination may reveal the composition of the dirt you are seeing and give you some hints. If it is subterranean termites you should see only dirt and perhaps the makeup of tiny balls of dirt stuck together.

The little pinholes are interesting, and could be related to the dirt or maybe just a red herring. About the only thing that normally makes tiny holes in wood is where insects have emerged, and this typically would be wood infesting beetles. However, the floor joists are probably fir or pine and this eliminate the possibility of True Powderpost Beetles, since they infest only hardwoods. It could be deathwatch/furniture beetles but they prefer damper wood, and their exit holes are not normally characterized as "tiny". Look for any evidence of fecal dust outside these holes and take a knife and pick at the wood around the holes to see what's a little deeper inside. If you find a channel running into the wood from the holes then it could have been an insect. It also could simply be old bark beetle holes exposed when the wood was milled into lumber, and not anything currently active.

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