Pest Info

Flour Beetles

Confused and red flour beetles are serious pests in flour mills and food storage areas. Adults of both species are very similar in appearance. Larvae and adults feed on a number of foods including flour, cracked grains, cake mixes, beans, peas, dried fruits, nuts, chocolate, spices, and tobacco. Flour beetles do not feed on whole, undamaged grains. Heavily infested food products have a foul odour.

Sawtoothed Grain Beetle

This insect is a commonly found pantry pest. Although not a feeder on undamaged, whole grains, it feeds on numerous food products including cereals, bread, dried fruits, nuts, sugar, macaroni, and seeds. The small size, about 3mm and flat body of these beetles enable them to penetrate very narrow cracks and crevices of poorly sealed packages.

Indian Meal Moth

Adults of the Indian meal moth have a wing span of about 13 mm. The front wings are tan the front one-third are reddish brown with a copper lustre on the back two-thirds. The larva is a dirty white colour. The larva feeds on all kinds of grains, seeds, powdered milk, dog food, crackers, candy, nuts chocolate and dried fruit. Telltale signs are fine silk webbing in the infested product.

Lesser Grain Borer

The adults are about 3mm long, with cylindrical dark brown or black bodies. With a ten power glass, you can see the tiny pits on their wing covers. They are recognizable without magnification because their heads are bent downward and cannot be seen from overhead.

Both adults and larvae are important pests of all kinds of stored grain. Both attack and feed upon whole grains. The larvae may also feed on flour products as well as whole grains. Larvae complete development inside grain kernels. Adults have very powerful jaws that can also bore into wood as well as whole grains.

Rice Weevil

The adults are about an eighth of an inch long, dull reddish-brown in colour, with four red or yellow spots on their wing covers and irregular round pits on their pronotum. The head is an elongated snout.

Rice weevils are primarily grain feeders, but will attack almost any kind of whole grain, as well as nuts, beans, and even some fruits. They are found all over the world. They are strong fliers.