COMMON PESTS IN STORRED PRODUCTS (Articles)

Description: The almond moth will feed on a variety of grain and seeds, as well as other dry goods like fruit and pet food. You may also find the moth in coarse flour and cornmeal. Almond Moth goes by the nicknames “Cocoa Moth” and "Warehouse Moth". The almond moth infests stored products and the adults can fly. You will be able to tell if you have an almond moth infestation if you see them flying around where dry…

Description: The Indian Meal Moth is a very troublesome and common pest that many families and businesses across the United States deal with on a daily basis. Pest found in flour mills, processing plants, dried fruit and on the surface of all types of grains. Indian meal moth larva's is a very common commercial and pantry pest. Like many other pests, the Indian Meal Moth is largely dependent upon its surrounding t…

Description: The Mediterranean flour moth larva is a very common commercial and pantry pest. It is a pest of mills and warehouses as it can clog machinery with its webs. The Mediterranean flour moth can be found on a great variety of foodstuffs in addition to flour, grain residues (insect-infected grain, broken kernels, and dust), and various whole grains. Although this insect is not as serious a pest as the India…

Description: The Tobacco Moth is an introduced pest species of moth. Often found in warehouses and other areas where food or tobacco is stored. Commonly known as either Tobacco moth, Cocoa Moth or Warehouse moth, are a widely distributed pest moth of stored products. They are considered a primary pest of stored products and can infest many products including tobacco, grains, pulses, processed flours and dried frui…

Description: Flour beetle is a very common commercial pest infesting a variety of grains and food material. The rust-red or flour beetle is frequently found in stored products in the USA Extremely important pest of flour but can infest a variety of food-stuffs. In large numbers can cause flour to turn grayish in color and mould more quickly. It can leave a disagreeable taste and odor in flour because of secretions…

Description: The Cigarette beetle is a very common stored product pest. In our region they are more common in the fall and winter months. As their name implies, the cigarette beetle is a pest of dried tobacco. These pests also feed on book bindings and stored products. Photo attribution link: CSIRO [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons   Appearance: The Cigarette…

Description: The drugstore beetle (also known as the Biscuit Beetle) gained its name because it was frequently found feeding on drugs in pharmacies many years ago. Now, they are customarily found infesting all types of dry stored food products, spices, seeds, grains and dried plant material. The drugstore beetle is a pest of stored products. Photo attribution link:  CSIRO [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativec…

Description: Several species of grain beetles cause problems in homes and businesses alike. The pantry pests attack stored grains, cereals, flour, spices, and other processed food products. Grain beetles are commonly encountered in a variety of manmade structures, such as grain elevators, warehouses, mills, home pantries, and railroad cars and cargo ships which transport food items. With their flattened bodies, mo…

Description: Carpet beetles are a fairly common pest. Though these insects will do damage to fabric, they are known to be a pest in food products as well. Carpet beetles occur naturally outdoors and then make their way into buildings. They may enter through improperly sealed or improperly screened doors and windows or through other cracks or crevices, but due to their small size, sealing them out is completely is…

Description: This beetle stand out are the golden hairs which cover it's back and head, species of spider beetles may be found infesting all types of stored food products. The beetles are most commonly found in vegetables in warehouses, poorly kept storerooms, cellars, and old houses, and sometimes occur in considerable numbers. They like sun light, but move actively in the dark. Photo attribution link: By…

Description: The lesser grain borer is a pest of a wide variety of food .Serious pest of most stored grains. This beetle lives and feeds in warehouses and stores, especially feed and health food stores. The origin of the lesser grain Beetle (borer) is uncertain but it now has a cosmopolitan distribution. It is a serious pest of dried stored products throughout the tropics and it is also found in temperate countrie…

Description: The larder beetle gets their name from its tendency to be found in larders, as their name would suggest. The use of refrigeration, the purchase of meats in small quantities, and the lack of home curing of meats, have decreased the economic importance of this insect. However, these beetles are still common in homes, museums, mills, livestock facilities, and any place that contains a suitable food source…

Description: The lesser mealworm or Litter Beetle (Panzer), is general stored products pest of particular importance as a vector and competent reservoir of several poultry pathogens and parasites. It can also cause damage to poultry housing and is suspected to be a health risk to humans in close contact with larvae and adults. Adults can become a nuisance when they move en masse toward artificial lights generated b…

Description: Merchant grain beetles are found in pantries or in food processing areas or warehouses. Merchant grain beetles are found more often in foods that are high in oils and fats, such as peanuts or birdseed. Other foods attacked include rice, cereals, dried fruits, breakfast foods, grain meals, sugar, chocolate, drugs, pastas and tobacco. Its varied food preferences make it one of the most commonly encounter…

Description: Rove beetles are commonly found on the soil surface in a variety of habitats. Their very short wing covers combined with a habit of raising their 'tails' when running or disturbed has left some people confusing them with small scorpions. They also have a similar appearance to earwigs, but lack the large 'pincers' that earwigs have on their rear ends. They come in a variety of sizes and colors and are…

  Description: The saw-toothed grain beetle is one of the most common insects in stored grain,cereal,peanuts and dried fruits products. The saw-toothed grain beetle is one of the most common insects infesting grain products. An infestation may begin at the time of manufacture or processing, in warehouses of food distributors in transit, on the grocers' shelves, or in the home. Most food processors and handle…

Description: They are called spider beetles because they look somewhat like small spiders (or large mites) due to their long legs and relatively large, rounded abdomens. Spider beetles prefer to forage at night or in dark locations and are consequently seldom seen. They also prefer damp locations and will readily feed on foodstuffs spoiled by moisture. They can be found within walls and attics, in the cracks of woo…

Description: Warehouse Beetles are a small round beetle which will prosper in pantries, closets and warehouses where wheat grain, cereal and other food is stored. Easily mistaken for other small beetles, this persistent pantry pest was first discovered in the United States. Though found to infest warehouses and food processing plants, Warehouse beetles can infest any structure which harbors the food they like. Thi…

Description: The bean weevils or seed beetles are granivores, and typically infest various kinds of seeds or beans, living for most of their lives inside a single seed. The Bean weevil is found in storage facilities. Bean weevils are not true weevils because they do not have a snout like rice or maize weevils. Bean weevils develop on the mature bean pods in the field but will also infest beans in storage facili…

Description: The Coffee bean weevil is a very common stored product pest. As their name implies, it is a coffee pest. Coffee bean weevils can reduce a coffee’s weight by up to one-third within six months. An insect attack can also compromise the physical qualities of the coffee, resulting in a greater number of defects, and can even alter the finished beverage.   Appearance: Adults: 1.5-4mm in length. It…

Description: The Granary Weevil is among the most destructive of all stored grain insects. The larvae develop inside kernels of whole grain in storage.   Appearance: They are dark brown-black in color. It is about 2.5 - 5 mm in length. They possess a long slender snout and cannot fly. In the larval stage the weevils are legless, humpbacked white to creamy white, with a small, tan head. Weevils in the pup…

Description: Also known as the Greater Rice Weevil. Maize Weevils are frequently regarded as primary pests of grain since they are able to infest otherwise undamaged grain. They have also been seen to infest buckwheat, peas, acorns, chestnuts and cottonseed. Photo attribution link: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1882621   Appearance: It is about 2.5 - 4 mm long. The head has a long sle…

Description: Rice weevils are pests of stored grain and seeds. It is a major pest of whole cereal grains. Weevils are tiny beetles that can infest grains and rice foods stored in your pantry, such as cake and biscuit mixes, pancake mixes, breakfast cereal, crackers, and more. Weevils can infest your food when female weevils have unnoticeably burrowed and laid eggs deep into the grain and rice kernels. Although inf…

Description: Booklice infests a wide range of grains, commodities and storage facilities. Booklice, also called psocids, are not true lice. While they resemble lice in size and shape, booklice feed only on fungi or mold. If you find them in grain or other stored food products, it is an indication of high humidity which encourages mold growth. In addition to food products, psocids may be found under wallpaper, in f…

Description: Cheese mites are small insects which are just visible to the naked eye. When they attack cheese they will first be detected as a brown powder on the surface of the cheese or in small cracks or breaks in the paraffin. When cheese mites are permitted to act on the cheese for a long time, they borrow into the cheese, leaving behind them the characteristic accumulation of brown powder, which consists of d…

Description: Flour mites are very tiny little creatures, but they can still be pests. A flour mite, sometimes called a grain mite, appears harmless number of other pests, such as tiny scavenger mites and book-lice, may also infest stored food products. This is particularly true if the food is stored under moist conditions. The grain or flour mites are one of the most important mites infesting food and feed products…

Description: Mites are tiny arthropods, related to ticks. Several types of mites can be found in homes and of these a few may bite humans. Most mites are harmless predators of insects, or feeders on decaying plant material. Others are merely nuisance pests, accidentally entering homes from their normal outdoor habitat. Only a few mite species are parasitic on birds or mammals, but these can occasionally become bit…