The pests favour temperate climates and are usually thrive in dark, warm, undisturbed places around their food source – for example, in the back of your cupboard on some old, rarely-used food that you’ve forgotten about. Owing to their eating habits, common alternative names for biscuit beetles are bread beetles or drugstore beetles (in America), though their scientific name is stegobium paniceum. They target goods such as flour, pasta, grains, and – you guessed it – biscuits. These tiny beetles aren’t fussy eaters and will feed rapidly on pretty much anything, but are mainly attracted to areas where dried food is stored. It is therefore advised to get an expert in to make sure the pest is correctly identified. Biscuit beetles are closely related to, and often mistaken for, the Common Furniture Beetle (woodworm) due to their physical similarities. Their larvae are white, crescent-shaped and grub-like. In this guide, we’ll look at everything you need to know about biscuit beetles and take you through some common questions about infestations.īiscuit beetles are small, hard-shelled, reddish-brown beetles with an oval-shaped body which is humped and covered in short yellowish hairs. Your store-cupboards can, however, become somewhere for pests such as biscuit beetles (or drugstore beetles) to thrive, which can cause contamination and health risks, as well as being a huge inconvenience. Most people don’t think to check their dried food for pests as it’s not somewhere you’d necessarily expect to find an infestation. Residual insecticides can be applied to cracks, crevices and shelves in storage areas after removal of stored products.How To Prevent and Get Rid of Biscuit Beetles Large-scale control for severe infestations can be achieved by fumigating. Dispose of heavily infested foods in wrapped, heavy plastic bags or in sealed containers for garbage disposal service.
Use a flashlight or other light source to examine all food storage areas and food products carefully. The simplest and most effective control measure is to locate the source of infestation and quickly get rid of it.
Beetles chewing through cardboard boxes and containers, and packaging cause indirect damage. These products are contaminated by the presence of beetles, larvae, pupae, cocoons, frass (fecal material), and insect parts. Larval feeding causes direct damage to foodstuffs and non-food items. Non-food products that it infests include dried plants and herbarium specimens, dried floral arrangements, potpourri, prescription drugs and pills, medicinal herbs, pinned insects, furniture stuffing, and bookbinding paste. In warehouses, the life cycle may be completed in 52 days.īesides being the most damaging pest of stored tobacco, the cigarette beetle also is a major pest of many stored food products including flours, dry mixes, dried fruits such as dates and raisins, cereals, cocoa, coffee beans, herbs, spices, nuts, rice, dry dog food and other products kept in kitchen cabinets, pantries and other areas in the home. Adult beetles may live from 23 to 28 days. Adults are strong flyers and active in subdued light at temperatures above 65 degrees F. The life cycle lasts from 70 to 90 days, and there may be 5 to 6 overlapping generations per year in warm localities with only one generation in the more temperate regions. The pupal and prepupal periods last 2 to 3 weeks and are passed in a cell. The larval stage lasts from 5 to 10 weeks with larvae shunning light.
The cigarette beetle is a commonly encountered stored-product pest in the home and has long been associated with humans. Stored-product pests are responsible for tremendous damage and economic losses to post-harvest and stored grains and seeds, packaged food products and animal and plant derived items and commodities. The cigarette beetle, Lasioderma serricorne, also known as the tobacco beetle, is pest of stored products.
0 kommentar(er)
