As the upper layer of wood crumbles away under this onslaught, deeper parts of the timber are attacked and in time, pilings and other wooden structures are eaten away.

They may also feed on fungal hyphae directly or may consume them indirectly in wood that is already softened as a result of attack by fungi and bacteria.

The eggs hatch directly into mancae, juveniles that are miniature versions of the adult, which means there is no free-living larval stage to aid dispersal of this species.

Little tunnelling or reproduction takes place during the winter but activity starts earlier in the year and continues later, and the young develop more rapidly under the warmer conditions that exist near the exit of a water cooling system.

[9] It has been known to damage wooden piles in piers, something first observed in 1810 by Robert Stevenson in the timbers he used in constructing the Bell Rock Lighthouse.