A crumbling beam, fine dust at the foot of a piece of furniture, galleries in the wood: searching for “termites” is a reflex. The good news: termites are not established in Belgium — the rare recorded cases are isolated introductions via imported wood or materials. The bad news: if your wood really is under attack, another insect is at work, and some cause comparable structural damage. The point isn't the insect's name — it's identifying the right culprit to apply the right treatment.
Why it's (almost certainly) not termites
The subterranean termites that ravage south-west France (Reticulitermes) need constant warmth and humidity; the Belgian climate doesn't let them establish lasting outdoor colonies. There is no established termite population in Belgium — unlike France, where the law imposes termite surveys in dozens of departments.
Documented Belgian cases are exceptional: one-off introductions through exotic wood, pallets or imported plants, usually in heated buildings. If you haven't recently imported tropical wood, the probability that your damage is termite-related is minute.
The “termites” reflex mostly comes from films and French websites. In Belgium, the wood-boring insects that actually cause damage are other species — and they are treated differently.
Suspect #1: woodworm (the dust at the foot of the furniture)
The common furniture beetle (Anobium punctatum) is by far the most frequent cause of worm-eaten wood in Belgium: round exit holes of 1 to 3 mm, frass as fine as flour, old furniture, floorboards, beams. The deathwatch beetle (Xestobium rufovillosum) attacks damp, already degraded wood — old roof frames, churches, cellars — and leaves 2 to 4 mm holes.
The decisive sign: visible exit holes on the surface with fresh frass escaping from them. Termites work from the inside without piercing the surface — termite-infested wood looks intact until your finger goes through it.
The deathwatch beetle makes a nocturnal clicking (the “deathwatch tick” of old houses): if you hear the wood click at night, that's the one.
Suspect #2: the house longhorn beetle (the structural danger)
The house longhorn beetle (Hylotrupes bajulus) is the country's most destructive wood insect: its larvae spend three to five years carving oval galleries in softwood — precisely what modern roof frames are made of. Oval exit holes of 6 to 10 mm, a rippled “wave” texture on the wood surface, an audible gnawing sound in warm weather.
This is the case where urgency is real: a roof frame attacked for years can lose its load-bearing capacity. If you find oval holes in a softwood roof frame or hear scratching in the beams in summer, get a diagnosis without delay.
Suspect #3: carpenter ants (they don't eat the wood)
Carpenter ants (Camponotus) hollow out damp or already degraded wood to nest in, without eating it: smooth clean galleries, small piles of shavings (not fine frass), large black ants visible in spring and summer, often near a moisture source — a leaking skylight, a garage roof frame, a deck.
Their presence almost always signals an underlying moisture problem. Treatment combines eliminating the colony and fixing the moisture source, otherwise a new colony takes over the same cavity.
Identify before treating
The three clues to photograph before calling: the shape of the exit holes (round 1–3 mm = furniture beetle; oval 6–10 mm = house longhorn), the texture of what escapes (fine frass = woodworm; shavings = carpenter ants), and the wood species attacked (roof-frame softwood = likely longhorn; old furniture = furniture beetle).
The screwdriver test: push the tip into the suspect area. Healthy wood resists; mined wood gives way at once. Do it at several points to map the extent — useful for the technician, and decisive for whether the timber can still be repaired.
Effective treatment depends on the species: injection and spraying of approved insecticide for woodworm, roof-frame treatment for the longhorn beetle, colony elimination plus moisture correction for carpenter ants. Antinox is approved by the FPS Public Health for professional biocide use and intervenes within 24h for a diagnosis — the price is announced before any treatment.
Frequently asked questions
So there are really no termites in Belgium?
No established population is documented in Belgium. Recorded cases are isolated introductions via imported materials, most often in heated buildings. If serious doubt remains after assessment (recent imported wood, continuously heated building), formal identification of the insect settles it.
Does my home insurance cover the damage?
Most Belgian policies exclude damage caused by wood-boring insects, treated as progressive lack of maintenance. Check your policy — and don't wait: unlike sudden damage, this worsens continuously.
Can I treat woodworm myself?
For a small isolated piece of furniture, surface injection can be enough if it reaches the larvae in depth — rarely the case with consumer products. For a floor, a staircase or a roof frame, professional treatment is required: the real extent of the galleries is always larger than the surface suggests.
How do I know whether the attack is still active?
Fresh, light-coloured frass that reappears after cleaning, holes with clean light edges, gnawing sounds in warm weather: active attack. Grey frass absent after cleaning and holes with dark edges: probably an old attack. A professional diagnosis confirms it before any treatment.