• Pests in House and Home
  • Bedbugs – Bites, Stings and Itches
  • Food Pests
  • DPIL

Pestium.uk

Europe's largest scientific bug site

Danish flagUnion JackNorwedish flagSwedish flagGerman flag
You are here: Home / Food Pests / Bug Indentification

Bug Indentification

Almond bark beetle

American cockroach

Australian spider beetle

Bacon beetle

Bat excrements

Bird excrements

Black-legged ham beetle

Blowfly and pupa

Booklouse

Broad-horned flour beetle, Gnathocerus cornutus

Brown carpet beetle

Brown house moth and larva

Brown rat excrements

Brown-banded cockroach

Cadelle beetle

Cheese fly

Cheese mite

Cigarette beetle

Coffee bean weevil

Common bean weevil

Common black ant

Common earwig

Common house fly

Confused flour beetle

Corn weevil

Cricket

Dark flour beetle

Dermestid beetle

Drugstore beetle

Female odd beetle

Flesh fly

Flour mite

Flour moth and larva

Fruitfly

Fungus mite

German cockroach with egg capsule

Golden spider beetle

Granary weevil

Groundnut beetle

Tysk kakerlak, hun

Tysk kakerlak, han

Ham beetle

house fly pupa

house longhorn

house marten excrements

House mouse excrements

House rat excrement

Indian meal moth and larva

Jet black ant

Khapra beetle and larva

Larva from beetle

Lesser grain borer

Lesser house fly and larva

Lesser mealworm beetle

Maggot - Larva from blowfly

Male odd beetle

Odd beetle larva

Oriental cockroach, female

Oriental cockroach, female

Orientalsk kakerlak, female

Orientalsk kakerlak, male

Pharaoh ant

Prune mite

Red-breasted kopra beetle

Red-legged kopra beetle

Reesa vespulae and larva

Regular hornet - Wasp

Rice weevil

Rust-red flour beetle

Rust-red grain beetle and larva

Saw-toothed grain beetle and larva

Scuttle fly

Shiny spider beetle

Spider beetle male

Spider beetle, Sphaericus gibbioides

Thysanura - Firebrat

Thysanura - Silverfish

Trogoderma dermestid beetle

Tropical warehouse moth

Vinegar fly

Warehouse moth

White-marked spider beetle

Wine moth

larva from yellow mealworm beetle

Yellow mealworm beetle

Yellow-necked mouse excrement

When someone finds a new animal, which is not yet known to science, and describes its appearance, it is the describer’s privilege to give it a species name – in Latin. Along with a family name, also in Latin, placed in front, this gives it a unique identification. However, in texts in other languages than Latin the common names of insects are used, for example the common English names. The Sitophilus granarius is called granary weevil when referred to in English texts because it allows one to use the name in a meaningful way in the English grammar (singular, plural, indefinite, genitive, etc.). Common names occur because there often will be a need to write about insects in local languages.

Both the Latin and the national names of the pests contain information about the animals. Some names can be very informative when it comes to animal appearance. The information you may get on biology and incidence via the name may, however, be confusing because the names often reflect what we thought was known about the animal, when it got its name. German and American cockroaches are not specifically related to these countries, while the Australian spider beetle actually is an immigrant from Australia, which is more known among us now than the “ordinary spider beetle”, that is the white-marked spider beetle. There is a certain preference for choosing common names that allude to the way insects seem to people, even if the insect actually mainly occurs in nature. Flour mites, sugar mites and firebrats are examples of insects that live elsewhere but which are named after the places in our environment where they are undesirable. Therefore one cannot always rely on the interpretation of the insect names. The common names are convenient to use, although they are sometimes misleading.

Knowing the name of an insect, makes it easier to learn the experiences others have had with this particular kind of insect. Therefore it is essential to determine which exact insect you are dealing with, when it is found in a product or in a company.

Depending on how experienced you are, you can make more or less qualified guesses as of the insect name. When it comes to food, the most common species are so frequent that a beginner should just concentrate on the species mentioned in this book. When insects appear that do not correspond to the insects shown and described here, you can seek help from more experienced colleagues or from professionals in relevant museums. You can even determine the insects by literature or try to find them on the Internet.

In reference books, the emphasis is usually put on showing insects as oversize drawings. These museum-like presentations are very accurate and cannot be dispensed in a book like this. Usually there may not be need for a perfect key, from where the size and shape of an insect can indicate a likely match.
The images (Fig. 4.1 to 4.37) are made on the basis of photocopies of insects. For technical reasons, they are shown as pitch black, but they show the insects in their natural sizes and are similar to what you see. Use them by placing the insects found on the image that looks the most alike. In the chart on pages 47-54, you can see the insect names, some comments about them as well as references to where in chapter 5 they are mentioned or showed by drawings.

Animals and insects like wasps, earwigs and birds are not included in the key. Nor are the mites shown. They are so small that they cannot be displayed, but the size is equivalent to a full stop in this book and insects this small will probably always be mites.

  • About
  • Latest Posts
Henri Mourier
Biologist at Statens Skadedyrslaboratorium
Author of:
"Pests in House and Home"
"Bed Bugs - Bites, Stings and Itches"
"Food Pests"
"Husets dyreliv" (Insects Around the House - Only danish)
"Skadedyr i træ" (Timber Pests - Only danish)
"Stuefluen" (Common Housefly - Only danish)
Latest posts by Henri Mourier (see all)
    Food Pests
    Introduction
    An old problem
    Competition for food
    Pests can ruin stored goods
    Why not just eat the insects
    Some insects are unhealthy to eat
    Allergy to pests
    Transmission of infectious diseases
    Where do pests come from?
    Synanthrope species
    (1) The house dust mite and the sugar mite
    (2) The firebrat and the silverfish
    (3) The German cockroach and the forest cockroach
    (4) The rust-red flour beetle and the confused flour beetle
    (5) The merchant grain beetle and the saw-toothed grain beetle
    (6) The cigarette beetle and the drugstore beetle
    (7) The rice weevil and the granary weevil
    (8) The pharaoh ant and the common black ant
    History of the dark flour beetle
    Pests in bird’s nests
    Mould fauna
    The Look and Behaviour of pests
    Insect appearance
    Internal
    Insect development
    Insect senses
    Behaviour
    Water and Moisture
    Temperature
    What insects live off and live in
    The Air
    Mites
    Bug Indentification
    The various species
    Mites
    The flour mite
    The sugar mite
    The common house mite
    The Lardoglyphus zacheri
    The prune mite
    The cheese mite
    The house dust mite
    The Cheyletus eruditus
    Silverfish
    The Silverfish
    The firebrat
    Cockroaches
    The German cockroach
    The Oriental cockroach
    The brown-banded cockroach
    The American cockroach
    The extermination of cockroaches
    Crickets
    Earwigs
    Booklice
    Butterflies
    The Mediterranean flour moth
    The warehouse moth
    Tropical warehouse moth
    The brown house moth
    The Indian meal moth
    Grain beetles
    The saw-toothed grain beetle
    The merchant grain beetle
    The rust-red grain beetle
    Flour beetles
    The yellow mealworm beetle
    The lesser mealworm beetle
    The dark flour beetle
    The confused flour beetle
    The rust-red flour beetle
    The bolting cloth beetle
    Furniture beetles
    The drugstore beetle
    The cigarette beetle
    Bostrychidae
    The lesser grain borer
    True weevils snout beetles
    The granary weevil
    The rice weevil
    The corn weevil
    Bean weevils
    The common bean weevil
    The coffee bean weevil
    Skin beetles
    The bacon beetle
    The dermestid beetle
    The leather beetle
    The khapra beetle
    The reesa vespulae
    Chequered beetles
    The red-legged ham beetle
    The red-breasted copra beetle
    The black-legged ham beetle
    Spider beetles
    The Australian spider beetle
    The white-marked spider beetle
    The golden spider beetle
    The smooth spider beetle
    Plaster beetles
    Flies
    The common house fly
    The lesser house fly
    Blowflies
    The grey flesh fly
    The cheese skipper
    Fruit flies
    Hymenoptera
    The common black ant
    The pharaoh ant
    Wasps
    Birds
    The domestic pigeon
    The house sparrow
    Prevention and control of birds
    Rodents
    The house mouse
    The yellow-necked mouse
    Mouse prevention
    Mouse control
    The brown rat
    The black rat
    Rat prevention
    Rat control
    Imaginary pests
    Niches of food pests
    A: The Waste Niche
    B: The seed niche
    C: The dead plant niche
    D: The sugary excrement niche
    E: The carrion niche
    Prevention and Control, Integrated Control
    A. Inspection of the company and its environment
    The environment
    The premises
    Examination of raw materials and food on site
    Sampling
    Laboratory methods for detection of pests in food
    B. Statement of the problem
    C. Prevention and control
    1. Proper organisation of the company
    2. Proper operation
    3. Exclusion, proofing buildings
    4. Packaging
    5. Non-chemical control measures
    6. Chemical control
    D: Effective monitoring and communication
    Practical information
    Index

    Copyright © 2023 · The publisher Pestium Inc. · Europe's largest knowledge database on pests.
    Copying and reproduction without permission is prosecuted without prior notice