Red Flour Beetles in Suffolk County & Nassau County

A number of beetles infest flour and grain-based products and are known as flour beetles. The most economically important pests of this species are the red flour beetle and the confused flour beetle. Red and confused flour beetles attack stored grain products such as flour, cereals, spices, pasta, cake mix, dried flowers, and even dried museum specimens. The red flour beetle is essentially an insect of warmer climates and can fly short distances. Flour beetles feed on grain dust and milled cereals, but are unable to attack sound and undamaged grain.

Red Flour Beetle Habitat

Red flour beetles are capable of breeding throughout the year where the building is warmed during winter. Flour beetles can be found not only inside infested grain products but in cracks and crevices where grain may have spilled. Flour beetles infest cereal, cake mix, cornmeal, crackers, dry pet food, chocolate and nuts, and seeds (such as birdseed). Both adults and small, off-white larvae will be found in infested items. The adult beetles often wander away from the infested material and can be found inside pantries and cupboards or anywhere in the home.

Red Flour Beetle Behaviors, Threats, or Dangers

The red flour beetle does not bite or sting but may elicit an allergic response. Although it does not spread disease, large numbers of dead bodies, cast skins, and fecal pellets can produce extremely pungent odors in grain. Common signs of an infestation are visual sightings of actual beetles crawling or flying throughout the home, seeing them in flour or cereal products, and “leaky packages.” Small bits of meal or grain spilling from a package, or small holes chewed through packaging, are signs that an infestation is present. Contact your local pantry pest control experts for help with red flour beetle problems.

Rice Weevils in Suffolk County & Nassau County

The rice weevil is distributed worldwide and is a serious stored-grain pest, living, feeding, and breeding inside food products. More prominent in the southern United States, rice weevil adults and larvae feed on whole grains. Often called flour bugs, these snout-nosed beetles infest and feed on rice, flour, nuts, beans, seeds, cereals, and especially macaroni. Adults can fly and are attracted to light. The larval rice weevil must complete its development inside a seed kernel or a man-made equivalent, like macaroni products.

Rice Weevil Habitat

Rice weevils are sometimes found in homes infesting rice, beans, birdseed, sunflower seeds, dried corn, macaroni, and spaghetti. Weevils are internal feeders and are also found in grain storage facilities, food processing plants, and whole-food markets. Adults can live for 7 to 8 months and the egg, larva, and pupa stages occur in the grain kernels and are rarely seen. Females deposit 300-400 eggs inside a seed or grain kernel. Larvae hollow out kernels of grain and usually attack whole kernels. Holes on the side of the grain are made by adults and by emerging adults.

Rice Weevil Behaviors, Threats, or Dangers

Rice weevils do not harm people, pets, or home furnishings, but they do damage grains and seeds, and large populations can destroy food. Weevils feed on almost every processed, grain-based food consumed by people and their small size makes it possible for them to hide in tiny cracks. They can also enter even the smallest opening in a package, making them a relatively common household pest. Since rice weevils feed inside food packaging, they can remain hidden in the pantry for a long time. Homeowners will often spot adult weevils crawling on pantry shelves and floors.

If an infestation is present in your Suffolk County & Nassau County home, locate and discard all infested material. Contact your local pantry pest control experts for help with rice weevils!

Sawtoothed Grain Beetles in Suffolk County & Nassau County

The sawtoothed grain beetle is a common stored product pest found throughout the United States in homes, grocery stores, food warehouses, and grain storage facilities. Similar in appearance to the merchant grain beetle, the merchant grain beetle has the ability to fly, while the sawtoothed grain beetle does not. Adults find their way into stored grains, flour, sugar, nuts, and other dry material of plant origin through cracks and crevices of imperfectly sealed containers. They are incapable of attacking sound grain kernels and often occur in food previously infested by other stored product pests. Their flattened body allows them to easily penetrate broken kernels of grain and packaged materials. Not only do they contaminate food, they often cause mold problems due to moisture build-up.

Sawtoothed Grain Beetle Habitat

Sawtoothed grain beetles are commonly found in food manufacturing, storage, and retail facilities, as well as pantries in homes. This stored product pest feeds on bread, cereal, dry pasta, dried meats, candy, nuts, and other dry goods. A single female can lay up to 250 eggs within cracks of kernels of grain. As with other pantry insects, it is the larvae that do most of the damage, however, the adult is most commonly encountered. A typical discovery of a sawtoothed grain beetle infestation occurs when adult beetles are discovered crawling around a pantry area.

Sawtoothed Grain Beetle Behaviors, Threats, or Dangers

Sawtoothed grain beetles are not known to carry or transmit any diseases to humans and do not bite or sting. They are nuisance pests and will contaminate and damage food that is stored in the home. Adults can readily enter sealed cardboard boxes and soft plastic packaging. Sawtoothed grain beetles typically enter homes in products purchased from grocery stores that are already infested with larvae or adults. The primary infestation usually originates at the manufacturing facility where the product was produced.

If you have sawtoothed grain beetles in your Suffolk County & Nassau County property, contact your local pantry pest control experts for help.