Most of the storage mites, booklice and house flies which can be seen in foods are associated with degradation of damp, dead plant material in nature. Different materials such as hay, straw, grain, flour, rapeseed and oats are infested by practically the same mould-eating insects. This is due to the fact that these insects are […]

In Germany in 1934 an unknown beetle was found in a shipload violet seeds. It was described to science under the name of Tribolium destructor. It turned out to be a rare African species, native to Ethiopia, which apparently had gone astray. It seems that the Tribolium destructor, the dark flour beetle, never managed to […]

The pharaoh ant is an African species that first appeared in Northern Europe nearly 100 years ago. It is omnivorous, but can only survive in warm and humid environments. Its basic life demands are very similar to those of cockroach and it also live in the places where you would expect to find cockroaches. This […]

In the tropics and in subtropical areas rice weevils live in areas with rice fields. It can fly and will often infest rice just before harvest. The granary weevil also lives in the tropics, but it cannot fly and is more common than the rice weevil as we approach the temperate zones. At our latitude, […]

In the tropics the cigarette beetle lives in the wild, but it is also a pest in all kinds of stored, dried plant products. The British import controls discovered this particular beetle in 4% of shiploads while the drugstore beetle was seen in 0, 1% of the examined loads. As a food pest in Northern […]

Both species are found in 4-5% of ships arriving from abroad to British ports. They can live of the same foods, but the merchant grain beetle is most common in products with high contents of oil and fat, while the saw-toothed grain beetle is most common in cereals. The merchant grain beetle requires slightly higher […]

According to British statistics, the rust-red flour beetle is that kind of food pest that most frequently is brought to Europe by sea. It has been found in 23% of the consignments while the closely related confused flour beetle has only been seen in less than 1% of the consignments. In the Nordic countries the […]

Both firebrats and silverfish are omnivorous and in our latitudes they are both synanthrope. The firebrat is free-living in the tropics and needs very high temperatures in order to survive. Firebrat eggs do not hatch at temperatures below 24.5 °C. Silverfish are free-living in Southern Europe and multiplies at temperatures above 15 °C. The firebrat […]

The two species look virtually the same. Only with a magnifying microscope, it is possible to see the subtle differences between the two. Both graze on the microscopic fungi found on dead plant material during natural degradation. The common house dust mite lives, among other places, in bird nests. It can form blooms in a […]

Pests that depend on people are called synanthrope insects. Synanthropy is a relative term because species may be more or less dependent on the presence of human beings. Synanthrope species of food pests can be free-living in the warmest part of their geographical locations. In colder parts of the world they will be synanthrope. The […]

Even though a person can be or become allergic to any insect acting as pests in food, it is only a small number of insect species that actually matters in relations to allergies. Those are the species that a person often comes into contact with, and their closest relatives with whom they share allergens. Allergies […]

In Western civilisation, we find it obvious not to eat food with pests. The pests are considered a contamination of the food and are looked upon with disgust. This might be odd when considering that we accept relatives to the insects such as crayfish, lobsters and shrimps as delicacies. The unwillingness most of us have […]

Besides from the obvious loss that is caused by pests eating stored food, there is also the large amount of food that is thrown away as a result of the mere presence of pests. Goods containing pests can change significantly in proportion to the declared content and quality. The weight of products can change due […]

In the middle ages, there was a rule of thumb that indicated that for every three grains harvested, one was for eating, the second was for sowing and the third was for pests. As the yield today is bigger than it was then, seeds for sowing only takes up a tiny share of the harvest. […]

Mankind is said to have begun cultivating the land 10.000 years ago. With agriculture followed a large production of food and a stable food supply, because people were able to store grain from harvest to harvest. Storing grain in larger amounts in one location meant new and improved possibilities for animals which natural habitats and […]