The female beetle lays her eggs in the pores (vessels) and checks of hardwood timbers, and larvae feed upon starch and other nutrients in the sapwood. Therefore, if the sapwood has insufficient starch, or its pores are too narrow for the female’s ovipositor, the hardwood should be immune to attack. Genuine infestations are far more likely in areas with high humidity, such as poorly-ventilated crawl spaces. Housing with central heating/air-conditioning tends to cut the humidity of wood in the living areas to less than half of natural humidity, thus strongly reducing the likelihood of an infestation. Infested furniture should be removed from the house before the infestation spreads.