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Store Product Insects

Biscuit Beetle(Stegobium Paniceum)

 

 

Features

 

 

  • About 3mm in length

  • Reddish brown in colour

  • Attracted to hard food sources like biscuits, cereals, dry pet food, grain and even birds nests

  • Females can lay up to 75 eggs at once

  • Larvae are responsible for most of the damage

  • Biscuit beetles can be confused with furniture beetles and tobacco beetles

 

 

Indian Meal Moth(Plodia Interpunctella)

 

 

Features

 

 

  • 7-9mm long

  • Brown wings with a pale buff and dark lines  

  • Female lays around 200 eggs in 7-10 days

  • Eggs hatch in 3-8 days

  • Larva are 12mm (fully grown), yellow-white to green-white depending on the food source

  • Normally found in imported nuts, dried fruits and grains

 

Yellow Mealworm Beetle (Tenebrio Molitor)

 

 

Feature

 

  • 15mm long.  The largest out of the store product insects

  • Black in colour

  • Lives for 2-3 months

  • Female lays 400 eggs which takes 10-12 days to hatch

  • Larvae are 28mm long when fully grown and are yellow

  • Normally found in roof voids feeding in bird nests, damp/cool places and in poor hygiene conditions

  • Sometimes confused with Ground Beetles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Larder Beetles (Dermestes Lardarius)

 

 

Feature

 

  • 6-10mm long

  • Black in colour with a hazelnut colour band

  • Has clubbed ends on antennae

  • Female lays 200-800 white eggs

  • Larvae is densely covered with black hairs and are 10-15mm long when fully grown

  • Normally breeds in animal matter of high protein content

 

 

Grain Weevils(Sitophilus Granarius)

 

 

Feature

 

  • 2-3mm long

  • Dark reddish-brown in colour

  • Has a long snout (rostrum) in front of the eyes

  • Females bore a hole into the grain and lays 2-3 eggs a day with a total of 100-200

  • Larvae feeds inside the grain

  • The pupa stays inside the grain until adult form.  Adults then emerge from the grain

  • Sometimes confused with Rice Weevils

Confused Flour Beetle (Tribolium Confusum)

 

 

Feature

 

  • 3-4mm long

  • Reddish-brown in colour

  • Lays 2-10 eggs in flour a day averaging 450

  • Larvae are yellow-brown and 6mm long when fully grown.  Also they have three pairs of legs and two horns on the terminal segment

  • Adults migrate indoors during the autumn, often in high numbers to roof voids where they cluster together

  • Normally found in flour

  • Sometimes confused with the rust-red flour beetle

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