There are a number of beetles in the Czech Republic that are classified as technical pests. Unlike agricultural pests, they do not attack living plants, but damage processed materials – from construction timber and furniture to wool carpets and museum collections. The following list deals with this type of pest. The list does not include all beetles that develop in wood and may therefore be found in wood stores or in wood prepared for heating. Some species are included in more than one list if their activity affects more than one of the areas listed.
The following paragraphs explain the individual columns in the table below.
The data sources used to create the individual tables can be found in the menu "About project" -> "Sources"
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Family/Taxon
The names of the families have been modified according to the family catalogue, which is available on this website as of 8 March 2026.
The names of the taxa themselves have been adjusted according to the catalogues of the relevant families on this website, valid as of 8 March 2026. If a taxon appears in the table that is not included in the catalogue of the relevant family (e.g. it is a non-native species that was not included in the family catalogue when it was created), the name of such a taxon was taken from the currently valid ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System) database.
Given that pests very often also have Czech names, the more commonly used or established names are also used in this table.
Damage
The data in this column specify the appearance of the pest. The data can take one of the following values:
| Value | Description |
| larva | The pest is the larval stage of the beetle. |
| imago | The pest is the adult beetle. |
| larva (roots), larva (leaves), imago (roots), imago (leaves) | The pest is the larva or adult, with a more detailed description of where that stage causes damage. |
| larva(!), imago(!) | The pest is the larva or adult, with an emphasis on which form is more dangerous (harmful). |
Subject of damage
This column lists the commodities that the taxon damages. These are mostly wood and wood products, as well as various types of fabrics, leather and furs, or collections of natural objects.
EPPO Code
The global EPPO database is managed by the Secretariat of the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organisation (EPPO). The aim of the database is to provide all information on specific harmful organisms that EPPO has created or collected. The database contains information on more than 98,700 species of interest to agriculture, forestry and plant protection: plants (both cultivated and wild) and pests (including pathogens and invasive alien plants). The database also contains detailed information on more than 1,900 species of harmful organisms that are subject to regulatory interest (harmful organisms listed by EPPO and the EU, as well as pests regulated in other parts of the world).
Non-native
This column indicates whether the taxon is non-native within the Czech Republic. The flag was set according to the source from which the information was drawn and may not correspond exactly to the table in the Lexicon -> Invasive Species menu, where a number of species are marked with the code C (uncertain origin) in the "Origin status" column and are marked as native or non-native in the list of pests.
Note
The last column is used for comments that specify or justify the classification of a given taxon as a pest.
Overview of technical pests in the Czech Republic
| Family / Taxon | Damage | Subject of damage | EPPO Code | Non-native | Note | |
Bostrichidae |
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| Lyctus brunneus (Stephens, 1830) | larva | hardwood product warehouses (furniture, construction timber, flooring) | LYCTBR | YES | Serious technical pest of hardwood. | |
| Lyctus linearis (Goeze, 1777) | larva | parquet flooring and other hardwood products | LYCTLI | YES | Attacks dry hardwood. | |
Buprestidae |
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| Anthaxia quadripunctata (Linnaeus, 1758) | larva | log stores, handles, etc. | ANTXQU | NO | Significant damage caused by this species is mainly recorded on weakened trees of very small dimensions. It is a major physiological pest of pole trees and pole wood. | |
Cerambycidae |
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| Acanthocinus aedilis (Linnaeus, 1758) | larva | Occurrence in carpentry and joinery workshops and in firewood | ACAHAE | NO | Develops on pine trunks and stumps. | |
| Callidium violaceum (Linnaeus, 1758) | larva | wood stores | CALDVI | NO | The most significant pest of stored unpeeled coniferous wood. | |
| Hylotrupes bajulus (Linnaeus, 1758) | larva | wood storage facilities | HYLTBA | NO | A significant pest of processed wood. It mainly threatens older wooden structures. | |
| Phymatodes testaceus (Linnaeus, 1758) | larva | wood stores | PHMATE | NO | The main pest of unpeeled hardwood from deciduous trees. | |
| Rhagium inquisitor (Linnaeus, 1758) | larva | wood storage facilities | RHAIIN | NO | It mainly inhabits freshly felled trunks and old stumps. | |
Curculionidae |
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| Trypodendron lineatum (Olivier, 1795) | larva, imago | damages stored softwood | TRYDLI | NO | A significant technical pest of coniferous wood. It proliferates after wind and insect calamities. It occurs mainly in higher altitudes. | |
Dermestidae |
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| Anthrenus flavipes flavipes (LeConte, 1854) | larva, imago | wool, silk, furs, feathers and dry animal material, books (book bindings) | ANTRFL | NO | ||
| Anthrenus fuscus (Olivier, 1789) | larva, imago | woollen clothing, carpets, insect collections, books | ANTRFU | NO | ||
| Anthrenus museorum (Linnaeus, 1761) | larva, imago | damages natural history collections | ANTRMU | NO | ||
| Anthrenus olgae (Kalík, 1946) | larva, imago | wool, leather, feathers, insect collections | 1ANTRG | NO | ||
| Anthrenus pimpinellae (Fabricius, 1775) | larva, imago | dried fish, wool and other animal materials | ANTRPI | NO | Outdoors, it develops in birds' nests, where the larvae feed on feathers, dead chicks or insect remains. | |
| Anthrenus scrophulariae (Linnaeus, 1758) | larva, imago | damages furs, clothing, natural history collections, various foods | ANTRSC | NO | ||
| Anthrenus verbasci (Linnaeus, 1767) | larva, imago | biscuits, cakes, seeds, wheat, corn, oats, rice, cayenne pepper, cocoa, dried cheese, dried fruit, nuts, natural history collections | ANTRVB | NO | It occurs in the nests of birds such as sparrows and swallows, in wasp nests in attics and under the cladding of houses. It has also been found in bat roosts. | |
| Attagenus brunneus (Faldermann, 1835) | larva, imago | Various plant and animal materials, including wool, felt and processed foods such as dried buttermilk, dried milk and peanuts | ATTGEL | NO | ||
| Attagenus pellio (Linnaeus, 1758) | larva, imago | damages furs, leather, wool, smoked meat, paper, natural history collections | ATTGPE | NO | ||
| Attagenus smirnovi (Zhantiev, 1973) | larva, imago | animal materials, including fur, leather, feathers and dried insects | ATTGSM | YES | ||
| Attagenus unicolor unicolor (Brahm, 1791) | larva, imago | animal materials such as silk fabric, wool, feathers, hair, fur, fish meal and cereal products | ATTGPI | NO | ||
| Dermestes ater (De Geer, 1774) | larva, imago | cheese, dried fish, leather, silk, wool, dried milk, dried mushrooms, cocoa, ginger, natural history collections, animal feed | DERMAT | YES | ||
| Dermestes haemorrhoidalis (Küster, 1852) | larva, imago | skin, bone meal, dried fish, fish meal and plant materials, including cereals | DERMHA | YES | ||
| Dermestes lardarius (Linnaeus, 1758) | larva, imago | damages leather, clothing, smoked meat, paper, natural history collections | DERMLA | NO | ||
| Dermestes maculatus (De Geer, 1774) | larva, imago | feathers, fur, bones, cheese, dried fish, fish meal | DERMMA | NO | ||
| Dermestes peruvianus (Laporte de Castelnau, 1840) | larva, imago | dried meat, leather, furs, animal feed, insect collections | DERMPE | YES | ||
| Megatoma undata (Linnaeus, 1758) | larva, imago | fur, leather | MGTMUN | NO | ||
| Reesa vespulae (Milliron, 1939) | larva, imago | museum collections, wheat, rye, tomato, pepper seeds, timothy grass (Phleum pratense) and dried plant material | REEAVE | YES | ||
| Thylodrias contractus (Motschulsky, 1839) | larva, imago | dry animal matter, dead insects, feathers, wool, silk, muslin fabrics, natural history collections, tissue paper | THYLCO | YES | ||
| Trogoderma angustum (Solier, 1849) | larva, imago | cereals, pasta, nuts, oilseeds, dried fruit, spices, natural history collections, woollen textiles, furs, feathers | TROGAN | YES | ||
Lymexylidae |
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| Lymexylon navale (Linnaeus, 1758) | larva | wood storage facilities, furniture manufacturing, construction manufacturing | LYMENA | NO | This species is a purely technical pest on debarked oak wood material of various thicknesses and lengths. | |
Oedemeridae |
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| Nacerdes melanura (Linnaeus, 1758) | larva | damp construction timber (oak, poplar, pine) | N/A | NO | ||
Ptinidae |
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| Anobium punctatum (DeGeer, 1774) | larva | wooden buildings, wooden structures, floors, panelling, furniture, picture frames, wooden tools, etc. | ANOBPU | NO | Together with the roof beetle, the striped woodworm is the most significant pest of wooden buildings, wooden structures, floors, panelling, furniture and other products made of coniferous and deciduous wood. Synanthropic. | |
| Gibbium psylloides (Czempinski, 1778) | larva, imago | dried foods (cereals, spices, dried fruit), wool, leather, paper | GIBMPS | YES | Found in bakeries, breweries, cocoa and spice warehouses, mills, granaries, hotels, pet shops, etc. | |
| Hadrobregmus pertinax (Linnaeus, 1758) | larva | roof structures, floors, wooden walls, etc. | ANOBPE | NO | It mainly damages processed coniferous wood. It does not usually attack furniture and other smaller products. | |
| Lasioderma serricorne (Fabricius, 1792) | larva, imago | herbariums, spices, seeds, rice, cereals, dried fruit and especially dried tobacco leaves | LASDSE | YES | ||
| Niptus hololeucus (Faldermann, 1836) | larva, imago | wool, flax, silk, cereals, flour, dried fruit, herbariums | NIPTHO | YES | ||
| Ptilinus pectinicornis (Linnaeus, 1758) | larva | furniture | PTIIPE | NO | ||
| Ptinus fur (Linnaeus, 1758) | larva, imago | damages furs, flour, flour products, seeds, granulated feed, feed mixtures, collections of natural objects; adults also damage wooden objects, hay, straw | PTINFU | NO | ||
| Ptinus latro (Fabricius, 1775) | larva, imago | feathers, leather, rodent droppings, dried fruit, dry animal feed, grain, sugar | PTINLA | YES | ||
| Ptinus raptor (Sturm, 1837) | larva, imago | cereals, flour, bran, animal feed, dried fruit, herbs, woollen fabrics, museum collections | PTINRA | NO | ||
| Stegobium paniceum (Linnaeus, 1758) | larva, imago | bread; flour, starch and sugar products; museum collections, spices, tobacco, leather, wood, textiles, etc. | STEGPA | NO | ||
| Tipnus unicolor (Piller & Mitterpacher, 1783) | larva, imago | plant debris, grain, dry animal feed, wool textiles | N/A | NO | ||
| Xestobium rufovillosum (DeGeer, 1774) | larva | wooden structures, furniture, wooden tools | XESTRU | NO | ||
Scarabaeidae |
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| Oryctes nasicornis (Linnaeus, 1758) | larva | stored wood | ORYCNA | NO | ||
Tenebrionidae |
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| Tribolium castaneum (Herbst, 1797) | larva, imago | grain, flour, grain products, peas, beans, cocoa, nuts, dried fruit, medicines, spices, milk chocolate, dried milk, leather | TRIBCA | YES | ||
| Tribolium confusum (Jacquelin du Val, 1861) | larva, imago | grain, flour, grain products, peas, beans, cocoa, nuts, dried fruit, medicines, spices, milk chocolate, dried milk, leather | TRIBCO | YES | ||