Serious damage by wharf borers is debatable as the wood is already moist and decayed to a certain extent before feeding occurs. Adult beetles can emerge from wood in large numbers, creating a nuisance by their presence. The tips of the wings, eyes, sides of the thorax, legs and undersides are blackish. The body is covered with a dense, yellow pubescence, with the wing covers pointed at the tips. Each wing has four lengthwise raised lines.
Antennae are about half the body length.
Mature larvae are about an inch long, cream-colored and covered with brown hairs. They have brown mouthparts that are almost black at the tips. Larvae bear a wart-like swelling on the upperside of the last two segments of the thorax and the first two abdominal segments. Life Cycle and Habits Adult beetles usually are observed in May and June in large numbers when emerging from wood. Beetles mate in rotten wood kept moist and deposit eggs, which hatch into larvae.