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The Mediterranean flour moth

Mediterranean flour moth
Mediterranean flour moth
Season for flour moths
Season for flour moths

Latin: Anagasta kuehniella or Ephestia kuehniella.

The rather narrow wings have a span of 20-25 mm. Forewings are leaden with dark, zig-zag-shaped transverse lines and dots. The rear wings are pale gray with long fringes on the back edge. The Mediterranean flour moth larvae which can be 15-19 mm long, are white, pink or bright green.

The Mediterranean flour moth probably comes from the Middle East. In 1877 it was found for the first time in Europe in a consignment of wheat from North America and it has since spread across the world. In many countries, the Mediterranean flour moth is in virtually all establishments where flour and other grain products are manufactured or stored.

The larvae prefer wheat flour, but do not reject other flour and grain products. When wheat flour is not available, also grains, seeds, dried fruit, almonds, nuts and macaroni are eaten by flour moth larvae.

Brown brown flour moth and larva
Brown brown flour moth and larva

The damage is not limited to that which the larvae directly eat. Flour with moth larvae is stained gray-brown by the excrement and will get an unpleasant smell and lumps. In mills where the Mediterranean flour moths are found in large numbers, hoppers and strainers of fibre clog, so you constantly have to stop and clean it out. To avoid this, as well as complaints from customers, some mills are regularly gassed against flour moths. The adult moths do not take nourishment. In daytime they sit quietly, preferably in dark places. After mating, which can last for up to 15 hours, the female lays about 200 eggs within a few weeks. At 20 ° C the eggs hatch in 11 days but at 30 ° C it only takes 3 days until the tiny, 1 – 1.5 mm long, flour moth larvae come out of the eggs. At 17 ° C the larval stages altogether last four months and the pupal phase lasts 16 days. At 30 ° C development speed is increased. Larval development lasts a month and the pupal stage one week. In unheated rooms the larvae hibernate in the winter. In places that are heated in winter, at least four generations can develop per year, and you will find moths and larvae of all ages.

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
Resistance
D: Effective monitoring and communication
Appendix
Literature
Extermination with poison
International trade
Colouration of small, pale animals
Index

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