Steely Blue Beetle
Korynetes caeruleus
Appearance
- Adult – 4mm. Shiny blue colour.
Lifecycle
- Eggs are laid on the surface of wood by or just inside exit holes.
- Larvae live inside wood that has been infested by woodboring insects, where they feed on the larvae of these wood-damaging insects.
- Adult: After emergence they mate, lay eggs and then die.
Habits
- Predator of common furniture beetle and deathwatch beetle – so its presence indicates a heavy infestation of either woodboring insect.
- It is the rarely seen larvae which consumes the larvae of the woodboring pests in their tunnels. The steely blue beetle is not capable of damaging wood.