![]() ![]() Removing all containers from cabinets and carefully cleaning the corners, cracks and crevices in food cabinets and pantries is the best way to ensure proper treatment of infested areas by your pest control technician. This is typically the single most expensive step of the control process, but also one of the most important.Ģ.) Good Sanitation: Thoroughly vacuuming out all food and pantry cabinets is vital in the control of Drugstore Beetles. Because Stored Product Pests are so invasive, every step is very important.ġ.) Food Source Removal: This consists of disposal of all infested foods or products, as well as any opened containers of grains, flour, dried foods and/or dry pet foods. <15%MC and <15oC and maintained in that condition.Achieving control of Drugstore Beetles, as with any type of Stored Product Pest, requires a multi-step process. Stores should be kept scrupulously clean and farm stores should be thoroughly cleaned before harvest.Īll grain taken into store should be dried to a suitable moisture content (MC) and temperature e.g. All infested commodities should be destroyed or fumigated. birds' nests) in which beetles can breed and develop to infest new materials. It is important to ensure that there are no food residues (stored commodities or secondary sources e.g. Generally, thick, tough materials with a smooth, shiny finish are preferred. The careful choice of packaging can help to deter insect attack. Appropriate stock rotation is important and if possible there should be a one-way passage of commodities through the premises. A gap between stacks will allow for ventilation, regular inspection, cleaning and, if necessary, treatment with insecticides. Cracks and crevices, which may provide harbourages for the beetles, should be kept to a minimum.Ĭommodities should be stacked neatly above the floor level using pallets, away from walls and should not touch the ceiling. They should be insulated, well ventilated and damp-proof. ![]() Stores should be soundly constructed to ensure maintenance of correct storage conditions and allow for easy cleaning. Whatever system is employed adequate records must be kept. These include pit fall traps, bait bags, insect probe traps, and adhesive traps. ControlĪ variety of trapping techniques are available for measuring stored product beetle infestations. On emergence, the adults disperse, living (without feeding) for up to 8 weeks. The pupal stage lasts 9-18 days, but the adults may then remain in the cocoons for up to two weeks before emerging. Eventually they become incapable of movement and construct cells of food particles and saliva in which to pupate. Development takes 2-5 months, during which time the larvae go through four moults to reach a full-grown length of 5mm. At 19-24oC they hatch in 1-2 weeks to produce very tiny, active larvae which wander about and may penetrate packing to infest the foodstuffs inside. Over a period of about 3 weeks the female Biscuit Beetle will lay, singly, about 100 eggs, either in the foodstuff or in the surrounding areas. Books and manuscripts may also be attacked. Infested products may lose value or cause contamination of other products and packaging may be damaged, the larvae reputedly being able to penetrate tinfoil and sheet lead. flour, bread, breakfast cereals, spices, beverage, concentrates and even drugs - indeed there have been reports of it infesting poisonous substances such as strychnine, belladonna and aconite. Stegobium paniceum is a pest of cereal products, e.g. In a warm atmosphere there may be as many as four generations per year. It is widely found in shops and domestic larders, infesting a wide variety of dried vegetable matter. The Biscuit Beetle is a cosmopolitan pest. Related species are the Tobacco Beetle ( Lasioderma serricorne) and the Common Furniture Beetle ( Anobium punctatum). ![]()
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