Western Cedar Borer vs Wood-boring Barklouse

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute	Western Cedar Borer	Wood-boring Barklouse
Scientific Name	Trachykele blondeli	Psilopsocus mimulus
Order	Coleoptera	Psocoptera
Family	Buprestidae	Psilopsocidae
Size	15-25 mm	2-3 mm
Habitat	Forests	Woodlands
Diet	Wood Feeders	Wood Feeders
Regions	Western North America	Central America, South America
Conservation	Least Concern	Least Concern

Western Cedar Borer

A large, dark metallic jewel beetle that develops in western red cedar. Larvae create distinctive oval exit holes in timber.

💡

Their development can take over a decade in dry seasoned wood, making them among the slowest-developing beetles.

An unusual psocid that bores into dead wood rather than living on bark surfaces. It creates small tunnels in decaying timber.

💡

It is one of the very few bark lice that actually bores into wood.