The red flour beetle, belonging to the darkling beetle family is a pest of food grains like cereals and flour, alongcol3 stored products such as biscuits, nuts, and pasta. It is very similar to the confused flour beetle (Tribolium confusum) and is a model organism used by the UN to study development and functional genomics.
Size: 3-4mm long (1/8 inches)
Color: They are uniformly a single color, either black, brown, or rust.
Other Characteristic Features: These small beetles have a flat or curved body, with minute punctures on their head, and upper portion of the thorax. Their antenna ends in a three-segmented club, unlike their close cousin, the confused flour beetle, having a four-segmented antenna.
The larvae are yellowish-white, slender, cylindrical, and covered with bristles. The head is pale-brown.
It is initially yellowish-white, similar to the larva, but becomes brown upon maturation.
Eggs are either white or colorless, 0.5 mm long, and cylindrical. They are sticky, found in a singular mass.
| Other names | Bran bug, rust-red flour beetle, flour beetle |
| Lifespan | 3 years |
| Distribution | They are Indo-Australian in origin |
| Habitat | Tropical and subtropical climes |
| Seasons active | Year-round |
| Host plants (Crops) | Almond, barley, beans, Brazil nut, groundnut, lentil, maize, oats, peas, rice, rye, sorghum, walnuts, and wheat |
| Diet of adults | Same as the larvae |
Both larvae and adults feed internally on the germ of the crops. This contaminates the seeds with feces, leading to mold contamination. When infesting flours or other grain products, they make tunnels within causing the color to fade. These beetles even emit an unpleasant odor, due to which the flour damaged by them tastes bad, becoming unfit for consumption.
Image Source: Plunketts.net, Grainscanada.gc.ca, Bugs.com, Entomologytoday.org
The red flour beetle, belonging to the darkling beetle family is a pest of food grains like cereals and flour, alongcol3 stored products such as biscuits, nuts, and pasta. It is very similar to the confused flour beetle (Tribolium confusum) and is a model organism used by the UN to study development and functional genomics.
Size: 3-4mm long (1/8 inches)
Color: They are uniformly a single color, either black, brown, or rust.
Other Characteristic Features: These small beetles have a flat or curved body, with minute punctures on their head, and upper portion of the thorax. Their antenna ends in a three-segmented club, unlike their close cousin, the confused flour beetle, having a four-segmented antenna.
The larvae are yellowish-white, slender, cylindrical, and covered with bristles. The head is pale-brown.
It is initially yellowish-white, similar to the larva, but becomes brown upon maturation.
Eggs are either white or colorless, 0.5 mm long, and cylindrical. They are sticky, found in a singular mass.
| Other names | Bran bug, rust-red flour beetle, flour beetle |
| Lifespan | 3 years |
| Distribution | They are Indo-Australian in origin |
| Habitat | Tropical and subtropical climes |
| Seasons active | Year-round |
| Host plants (Crops) | Almond, barley, beans, Brazil nut, groundnut, lentil, maize, oats, peas, rice, rye, sorghum, walnuts, and wheat |
| Diet of adults | Same as the larvae |
Both larvae and adults feed internally on the germ of the crops. This contaminates the seeds with feces, leading to mold contamination. When infesting flours or other grain products, they make tunnels within causing the color to fade. These beetles even emit an unpleasant odor, due to which the flour damaged by them tastes bad, becoming unfit for consumption.
Image Source: Plunketts.net, Grainscanada.gc.ca, Bugs.com, Entomologytoday.org
