Photos from the WFIWC Archives:
Insects and Damage

Robert L. Furniss, stationed at Portland, OR, became interested in the longevity of woodborers in lumber used for house construction. In 1939-1941, he inserted hatched larvae of Buprestis aurulenta L. (golden buprestid) in Douglas-fir wood blocks (arrow, lower left photo). After 23 years, he reported that some were still living (ESA ann. meeting, Phoenix, AZ).

In 1980, after his death, I (M. Furniss) took the remaining blocks to Moscow, ID. Several larvae were still alive in 1973 (34 years) and one was alive in 1986 (1941-1986 = 45 years) after which I discontinued the study.

He seemed to think that surviving larvae might still mature to adult stage but none did and they became very shriveled, probably from desiccation. One thing that impressed me was that no larva ever bored to the outside. I wonder how they sensed not to do so. That is evident in the lower left photo showing the face and cross section of a block.

The larva photo (upper left photo) is in Western Forest Insects and a print is in the WFIWC archives. This larva was a normal one not involved in this study.

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