Powder Post Beetles?

[sudsmaster]

For the past year or so, I've noticed tiny beetles flying around the house, usually at my desk in the family room, which is contiguous with the kitchen area. They would fly into the computer monitor or desk light. WTF?

I was initially worried these might be powder post beetles, but seemed to be smaller than what those are supposed to be. Like less than a millimeter in length.

Finally I took to Google again and figured out what they must be.

"Drugstore Beetles". Yup. Most likely. They are the right size, and are attracted to light. Where are they coming from?

Well, I haven't cleaned out my supplies of dry noodles, bread flour, etc for quite a while. I expect I'll be finding traces, if not dozens, of these beetles in one or more of the packages. The old flours, noodles, etc will go into the compost pile in the back yard, where the beetles will meet their well deserved end. LOL.

I am relieved, by the way, that they are not powder post beetles, which could decimate a timber structure. So for that, Yay.

Any suggestions in addition to a thorough cleaning and disposal of old beetle food sources?

 

[sudsmaster]

Eureka...

Found a prime suspect. An open box of Grape-Nuts ceral, in which the edge of the plastic bag inside had been cut. Probably tried it once and put it aside, without firmly sealing the bag. Plus, that might not have deterred the beetles, since the bag itself has a number of tiny holes in it, no doubt chewed through by determined bread or drugtore beetles.

This doesn't mean the search is over, still have to go through all the cupboards and ferret out any containers that are not beetle-proof. But the solution is nigh.

I don't really mind the things, other than that they are somewhat annoying. Like a friend of mine once said of another pest, "They just want to live". Well, not in my food supplies!

LOL

 

[launderess]

Went though such an infestation last year. Not sure what they were brought in on, but could have been anything from cereal to flour to powdered cocoa, or anything else in between.

https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/urban/stored/drugstore_beetle.htm

https://pantrypest.com/drugstore-beetles.html

Yes, doing a through cleaning out of cupboards and any other area used to store cereals, grains, spices, cake/baking mixes, pet food, etc.... is required. However since the critters eat a wide variety of things, you may have to extend your cleaning and search beyond kitchen and food storage areas.

As luck would have it keep flypaper up in kitchen which caught tons of them. Drug store beetles are attracted to light (like yourself first clue to infestation was the things landing on computer screen, or flying about light on desk), so this proved a blessing.

Can also try keeping your home cooler with low relative humidity which seems to slow down their breeding and so forth.

Hopefully they only came in recently on something purchased or otherwise have not set up extensive housekeeping in your home. Minor infestations are easily dealt with as we've not seen the critters since.

Tip when examining containers, boxes, bags, and other containers for evidence of drug store beetles look for small holes. Once grubs reach mature stage they will chew their way out of infested things to find new homes. This and adults will make such holes to get into foods so can lay eggs.

It also helps to examine bags, boxes and other containers of grains, cereals, cake mixes, tea, etc.. carefully when taking off shelf at supermarket. If you see said small holes, put it back....

 

[sudsmaster]

Thanks, Laundress...

The cupboard cleaning is on my schedule. I think I may have discovered the major infestation. I believe most of what I have in cupboards is in pest proof containters, but it's time to "rotate" older supplies into the compost pile anyway.

 

[launderess]

"..."rotate" older supplies into the compost pile anyway."

Yes, that is what one did as well. It's amazing what one will find in back of cupboards or shelves. Old packets of soup mixes, spices, cornstarch, etc.. Tons of it was all rubbished.

According to professional chefs spices should be tossed after two years as they lose freshness and potency. Tend to stock up on various teas when on sale, but cannot consume all, so now have stopped that as well.

Had an infestation of flour weevils around same time, and they even got into Rubbermaid containers. Though think one simply forgot to close lids and seal properly. Haven't seen them since either.

 

[sudsmaster]

The offending beetle infested Grape Nuts cereal got dumped into the compost bin about an hour ago. I noticed that all the little grains of it were perforated with little beetle holes.

I actually had intended to dump it a year or more ago. I had for some reason placed it in an out-of-the way spot in a connecting room, on the way to the compost pile, and then ignored it. My bad. I did a partial clean of one of the cupboards but didn't find any beetle infested stuff. So I'm thinking that cereal box was the primary source. Whew.

Yeah, still need to go through the rest of the stores. There are a LOT. LOL.
[this post was last edited: 4/15/2022-23:03]

 

[launderess]

Good thing you nipped things in bud early.

Have stopped buying things like cake mixes unless planning on baking right away. On more than a few occasions have opened a box of mix, pulled out plastic bag only to see scores of creepy crawlies moving about inside. Box is double bagged and rubbished in bin outside....

 

[mattl]

Had a similar experience with meal moths last year. Was gone on and off for 3 months and did not use flour.  They went wild.  Had to toss pounds and pounds of various flours. Some were freshly stored in airtight containers. Fact is the eggs came in the flour. Researched a bit and found heat or cold will kill them.  Now when I buy flour it goes in the freezer for a few days or a week. Have not had an issue since but I do use a good amount of flour in my bread baking so most is fresh-ish.

 

Trick is to get as many of the insects as you can and wash everything down to minimize the next round of infestation.  Took me two rounds to get things under control.

 

[sudsmaster]

Well, found another couple of boxes of beetle infested carbs. One was a box of Quaker Oatmeal, bag unopened, but the darn beetles had put holes in the plastic bag. The other was some Ghiradelli chocolate cake mix, same thing, holes in plastic bag(s). Both went outside until I can dump them into the compost bin. And before that, I'll be checking all the cupboards in the house for any more infestations.

And in future I'll be taking Matt's advice to put any new carb-rich mixes in the freezer for a few days after purchase. Thanks for the suggestion, Matt!

 

[weed30]

Agree with Matt - any dry item goes in the freezer for a week before putting in the pantry to kill any eggs. I freeze literally anything that is not canned. Nuts, crackers, etc. Once you clear and wash off all of the shelves, you can put some Diatomaceous earth around the perimeter in the crack where the shelves meet the walls. They like to lay eggs in those tiny cracks. When they hatch the small larvae will get their bodies ripped/desiccated from the DE. It also works on adult bugs. Make sure to get the food grade kind and apply carefully - it's not super dangerous but you don't want to breathe a bunch of it in. I carefully sprinkled mine and then used a credit card to scrape it into the cracks. It's also useful in the garden.

 

Source: I had a TERRIBLE pantry moth infestation a few years back!

 

[mattl]

One more tip....

Most everything these days comes in a plastic bag. I was making an Angel Food cake and had not replaced my cake flour yet.  Put the bag in the freezer for a few days, made my cake, then used my vacuum sealer to reseal the bag.  I do this with crackers and ever bagged salad mix.  Keeps stuff fresh and bugs out. Works with most anything is a plastic bag, no need to use the special bags.

 

[sudsmaster]

Noticed more druggie beetles in the kitchen sink this morning. Probably newly emerged ones from pupae in the as-yet-not-cleaned cupboards. I'm not too worried, I figure they are the last hurrah, as I *think* I located and disposed of all infested food stuffs around here. I'm assuming the larvae exit the foodstuffs and drop onto the cupboard shelves while they transform into the adult version, and that's what I'm seeing now.

And to repeat, I'm not as concerned about the druggie beetles as I would be about powder post beetles, which could ravage a wood frame house like this.

 

[sudsmaster]

OK, now I'm slightly embarrassed.

Just found the source of the continuing drugstore beetles...

I had stashed under a table in the kitchen a plastic container... a Rubbermaid "Roughneck"... 18 gallon, I think. Maybe 15 or 10. IDK. Anyway, I pulled it out of there, and low and behold it contained a big (25 lb) bag of "High Gluten" bread flour. That's because although I had stored the flour bag inside a plastic bag, the plastic was thin. And the lid on the Roughneck storage container doesn't seal completely. Let's just say there were hundreds of these damn beetles inside the flour bag, inside the plastic bag, and inside the Roughneck container. Since I can't quite remember the last time I made bread... probably at least five years old. Maybe 10. Maybe 15. Yikes!

Anyway, I took the whole thing out to the trash area and gently placed the flour bag in there. Although, I probably should add it, beetles and all, to the compost bin.

The Roughneck container is translucent with a blue lid. I could not find it on-line, it's that old, but did find a gray version which looks a lot like it, although mine may be smaller.

I'm just glad I found the major beetle source!

 

[tolivac]

5 yr old flour won't be anygood anyway.

 

[sudsmaster]

"5 yr old flour won't be anygood anyway. "

Of course. I had completely forgotten what was in that opaque container. Imagine my surprise when I found it chock full of beetles. LOL.

Actually, the goldfish in the back yard pond might enjoy them.

 

[sudsmaster]

The antique bread flour and beetle graveyard went into the compost bin earlier today.

RIP, Drugstore Bandits. Is there another source still indoors here? IDK, I hope not, but we'll see.

 

[sudsmaster]

Found another drugstore beetle infestation: a plastic bag of pasta, that had been opened once, and then ineffectively resealed. Not a lot of beetles within, but enough to warrant emptying the bag outside into a bucket of water, let it sit for a few hours, till the pasta got soft, and then add it all to the compost pile.

 

[askolover]

My issue happened with weevils.  I found them in some corn meal...that was in a sealed container!  When I opened it, the meal was moving....

 

[sudsmaster]

Greg,

As I understand it, some packaged food stuffs may be already contaminated with weevils/beetles/etc. Which is why we've seen the recommendation to stick the package in a freezer for a few days to kill off the critters. In other cases, a container might not have a tight enough seal to keep tiny beetles out. Or, as I discovered recently, the package may have been opened and not re-sealed tight enough before being put back in the pantry.