Confused flour beetle, a flour beetle species is infamous for infesting grains and flour, hence the name. It has the name confused attached to it since many mistake it for the red flour beetle majorly because of the similarity between the two.
Size: 3 – 6 mm (0.11 – 0.23 inches)
Color: The adult beetles have a reddish-brown body.
Other Characteristic Features: These oval-shaped spiders have a shiny flattened body. The region close to the tip of their antennae remains enlarged also having four clubs. Their head and upper region of the thorax has dense coverings of minute punctures. They even have a ridged pattern on their wing covers.
The confused beetle flour larvae are small with a creamy-white or brownish body. On the last segment of the larva lie two pointed segments.
The pupae are light with a white or yellowish coloration.
The white microscopic eggs mostly remain stuck on the flour surface.
| Adult lifespan | 5 – 8 months |
| Duration of larval stage | About 2 weeks |
| Distribution | Native: Africa Invasive: United States of America |
| Habitat | Home (particularly kitchen) warehouses, grocery stores, granaries, flour mills, and everywhere else where grains and food products are stored |
| Predators | Not recorded |
| Seasons active from | Occurs throughout the year in warm regions |
| Diet of larvae and adults | Grain dust, broken grain, and fine-grind materials |
Becol3s feeding on the grains, the adults even lay eggs and excrete wastes incol3 them. The heavy infestation makes the flour and other grain products stinky, also encouraging mold formation in them. In this way they deteriorate the taste and quality of the food making them unfit for eating.
Some of the important measures to get rid of these beetles include storing them in tight-fitting containers and also cleaning the kitchen or pantry shelves on a regular basis. Setting traps in places where they are likely to inhabit is another way of controlling their numbers.
Image Source: ozanimals.com, grainscanada.gc.ca, cdn.branchcms.com, spiru.cgahr.ksu.edu, bugs.com, grainscanada.gc.ca
Confused flour beetle, a flour beetle species is infamous for infesting grains and flour, hence the name. It has the name confused attached to it since many mistake it for the red flour beetle majorly because of the similarity between the two.
Size: 3 – 6 mm (0.11 – 0.23 inches)
Color: The adult beetles have a reddish-brown body.
Other Characteristic Features: These oval-shaped spiders have a shiny flattened body. The region close to the tip of their antennae remains enlarged also having four clubs. Their head and upper region of the thorax has dense coverings of minute punctures. They even have a ridged pattern on their wing covers.
The confused beetle flour larvae are small with a creamy-white or brownish body. On the last segment of the larva lie two pointed segments.
The pupae are light with a white or yellowish coloration.
The white microscopic eggs mostly remain stuck on the flour surface.
| Adult lifespan | 5 – 8 months |
| Duration of larval stage | About 2 weeks |
| Distribution | Native: Africa Invasive: United States of America |
| Habitat | Home (particularly kitchen) warehouses, grocery stores, granaries, flour mills, and everywhere else where grains and food products are stored |
| Predators | Not recorded |
| Seasons active from | Occurs throughout the year in warm regions |
| Diet of larvae and adults | Grain dust, broken grain, and fine-grind materials |
Becol3s feeding on the grains, the adults even lay eggs and excrete wastes incol3 them. The heavy infestation makes the flour and other grain products stinky, also encouraging mold formation in them. In this way they deteriorate the taste and quality of the food making them unfit for eating.
Some of the important measures to get rid of these beetles include storing them in tight-fitting containers and also cleaning the kitchen or pantry shelves on a regular basis. Setting traps in places where they are likely to inhabit is another way of controlling their numbers.
Image Source: ozanimals.com, grainscanada.gc.ca, cdn.branchcms.com, spiru.cgahr.ksu.edu, bugs.com, grainscanada.gc.ca
