All Types of Beetles

Habits

• It can damage upholstered furniture, carpeting, and some stored food products.
• Not as destructive as black and variegated carpet beetles.

Life Cycle

• Its life cycle is 9-12 months. The dark-colored caterpillar is up to 5 mm long.
• When fully fed they are wide in front but narrow towards the back.

Habits

• The Cigarette Beetle feeds off tobacco, dry stored food products, spices, seeds, grains and dried plant material.
• They have also been reported in rice, dried potatoes, paprika, raisins, grain-based mouse bait and dried straw flowers.
• Adult beetles often wander away from infested materials and may be found throughout the area.

Life Cycle

• The adult beetles live from 2 to 4 weeks and during this time the females may deposit between 10-100 eggs.
• The eggs are laid loosely on the infested material.
• The larval period usually ranges from four to five months, but under very favorable conditions the development from egg to adult may occur in 6 to 8 weeks.
• When the larvae are fully grown, pupation occurs and they remain in this resting stage for 12 to 18 days.

Habits

• Adult beetle is a pest of stored maize, but also infests other types of grain. Larvae bore tubular passages into the grain, typically making one main tunnel with smaller ones branching off.
• Brought in from tropical Central America in cassava roots and tapioca products, as well as in starchy fruits and tubers.

Life Cycle

• The female lays an average of 10 eggs on a grain of maize and the hatched larvae bore into the grain.
• The larva undergoes up to 4 development phases and pupates inside the corn grain.
• Lifecycles can be quite short, in good conditions (25 days at 93°F, 75% relative humidity) there are several generations per year.

Habits

• They actively fly in warm sunny weather.
• Within homes and other buildings the furniture beetle is an exceedingly common pest.
• Despite its name this beetle can invade more than just furniture.
• Infestations can damage decorative woodwork, musical instruments, wooden tools and on a more serious scale wood flooring, joinery and structural timbers.
• These wood boring beetles consume hardwoods and softwoods.

Life Cycle

• Larva will live for 3 - 5 years boring through timber before emerging to breed.

Habits

• It is not a major pest in stored grains but will attack spices, seeds, grains and dried plant material as well as packaging materials such as paper and cardboard.
• They have also been known to feed on leather, wool, hair and books.
• Their presence can be detected from pinhead holes in the infested items.
• Packaging materials such as paper and cardboard are also attacked.
• Since the drugstore beetle can fly well, the source of infestation can sometimes be hard to find.
• The drugstore beetle is not a major pest in stored grains.

Life Cycle

• The adult beetles live from 2 to 4 weeks and during this time the females may deposit between 20-100 eggs.
• The hatching larvae are 0.5 mm long and very mobile.
• The larval period usually ranges from four to five months, but under favorable conditions the development from egg to adult may occur in 6 to 8 weeks.
• When the larvae are fully grown, pupation occurs and they remain in this resting stage for 12 to 18 days.

Habits

• Beneficial insects. Predatory and usually nocturnal.
• Do not breed indoors and an invasion of large numbers may be due to disturbance outside of the building.

Life Cycle

• Usually completed in 1 year.
• Larvae are active and voracious predators feeding on caterpillars, slugs, snails and vegetable matter.

Habits

• The Merchant Grain Beetle is a pest species found feeding in nuts, seeds, biscuits, dried fruit, grain and various other food products.
• The beetles can chew through sealed packaging such as cardboard boxes, plastic bags and foil wrappings.

Life Cycle

• The females lays about 300 eggs in her lifetime.
• Eggs are dropped loosely among grain kernels or tucked into a crevice in a kernel.
• The tiny eggs are slender and white, and hatch in three to five days when environmental conditions are optimal .
• The larvae emerge and crawl freely about the grain to feed on broken kernels. Larger larvae may tunnel into kernels to feed.
• Total development from egg to adult requires about three to four weeks.

Habits

Life Cycle

Habits

Life Cycle