The Natural History of Selborne

Those maggots that make worm-holes in tables, chairs, bed-posts, &c., & destroy wooden-furniture, especially where there is any sap, are the larvae of the ptinus pectinicornis.  This insect, it is probable, deposits its eggs on the surface, & the worms eat their way in.  In their holes they turn into the pupa state, & so come foth winged in July: eating their way thro’ the valences or curtains of a bed, or any other furniture that happens to obstruct their pasasge.  They seem to be most inclined to breed in beech; hence beech will not make lasting utensils, or furniture.  If their eggs are deposited on the surface, frequent rubbings will preserve wooden furniture.