( Latin: Family Dermestidae) The members of this beetle family live principally on the dried remains of plants and animals. Many species live on for example cartilage and scraps of dried meat and some can utilize hair and feathers (see p. 98). This way of life will, of course, bring them into conflict with human […]
Nutmeg or coffee weevil
(Latin: Araeocerus fasciculatus) This beetle lacks the well-developed snout of the curculionid weevils. It is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions and is often brought to Europe in goods. It is now found quite commonly in Britain, mainly as a pest in cocoa beans, nutmegs and coffee beans. It has on occasions caused serious trouble […]
Rice weevil
(Latin: Sitophilus oryzae) This beetle is a little smaller than the grain weevil, and can be recognized by the four reddish spots on the elytra, which cover a pair of functional wings. This is one of the most serious pests of cereal crops in the tropics and subtropics. It is often brought to northern Europe […]
Grain weevil
( Latin: Sitophilus granarius) This is the commonest pest in stored grain. It cannot fly but is a tireless walker. When egg-laying the female gnaws a small depression in a grain of cereal, lays an egg in it and then covers the hole with a secretion that is the same colour as the cereal. She […]
Lesser grain borer
(Latin: Rhizopertha dominica) This species belongs to the family Bostrychidae, a group of tropical beetles which includes several wood-boring species (p. 128). It can be a very serious pest of stored rice and grain in warm regions (see p. 93).
Tobacco beetle
( Latin: Lasioderma serricorne) This is also related to the furniture beetles and it is very similar to the biscuit beetle, from which it can be distinguished by its serrated antennae. It is primarily a tropical and subtropical beetle which requires plenty of warmth. Reproduction ceases below 21° C. and all movement ceases at temperatures […]
Biscuit or drugstore beetle
(Latin: Stegobium paniceum) This is actually a member of the furniture beetle family which has become adapted to a diet of starch-containing foods, and the round exit-holes made by the larvae of this beetle are exactly like the holes in timber made by furniture beetles. The species has become distributed to all parts of the […]
Flat grain beetle
(Latin: Cryptolestes ferrugineus) This is a pest found mainly in grain warehouses, but it may also occur in private houses. It is not normally a very serious pest, but if the temperature and humidity are sufficiently high it can do quite a lot of damage, partly because the larvae eat the seed germ and partly […]
Merchant grain beetle
( Latin: Oryzaephilus mercator) Very similar in appearance to the preceding species, and difficult to distinguish. The present species is not so commonly seen, and seems to like even higher temperatures. It prefers vegetable foods that contain oil, so it is mainly found in imported nuts, almonds and copra.
Saw-toothed grain beetle
( Latin: Oryzaephilus surinamensis) This is another beetle from the tropics. It has a series of serrations on each side of the thorax. It can live in grain stores and silos and feeds on all types of dried food products, mostly those containing starch such as flour, bread and cereal products, but also in dried […]
Cadelle beetle
( Latin: Tenebroides mauritanicus) Originally an African species, this beetle has now spread to almost all parts of the world. It is found particularly in grain warehouses, silos and mills. The larvae live hidden away, feeding on corn and flour, but also live to a certain extent as predators on other insects. The species is probably […]
Rust-red flour beetle
( Latin: Tribolium castaneum) This is very like the preceding species – the flour beetle, but is a little smaller and darker. It has similar habits, but requires even more warmth, and in an unheated warehouse will probably die during the winter in northern Europe.
Flour beetle
(Latin: Tribolium confusum) This beetle is like a slightly smaller and paler edition of the preceding species. It is found mainly in flour and cereal products, but it also attacks a variety of other foodstuffs, such as beans, dried fruit, spices and chocolate. It is particularly injurious in warehouses and in factories making starch products, […]
Tribolium destructor
(Latin: Tribolium destructor) This species is like a small edition of the mealworm beetle, and its larvae look like small mealworms. It probably came originally from tropical Africa and has been distributed with goods to many parts of the world. It is now common and well established in Europe. The beetle secretes a substance with […]
Mealworm beetle
( Latin: Tenebrio molitor) This beetle is best known from its larvae, known as mealworms, which are a favourite food for cage birds and vivarium animals. Mealworms are particularly associated with corn or flour, but sometimes they can also be found in sparrows’ nests where they feed on the birds’ droppings. Most of them overwinter […]
Beetles
(Latin: Order Coleoptera) This is by far the largest of the insect groups, so it is not surprising that it has numerous representatives that attack foodstuffs. Normally it is the adult beetles that are first observed, but it is the larvae that do the damage and they must be found and dealt with.
Wine moth
( Latin: Oinophila v-flavum) This is not really a food pest, but it is somewhat of a specialist, that i often found in wine cellars where the larvae gnaw holes in the corks. They thrive particularly in damp cellars, feeding on the mould growing on the walls and on the wine corks, and what is […]
Brown house moth
( Latin: Hofmannophila pseudospretella) The larva of this moth is sometimes to be found in grain warehouses or among foodstuffs, but it is primarily a pest of textiles
Indian meal moth
( Latin: Plodia interpunctella) This is a particularly serious pest in stores of food in warm regions of the world. It mainly infests dried fruit, nuts and almonds, and the larvae are also found in chocolate, and sometimes in cereal products. Under the most favourable conditions (at 25° C) development from egg to adult takes […]
Dried currant moth
( Latin: Ephestia cautella) This is very similar to the preceding species and it has the same habits. Also known as Cadra cautella.
Mill or flour moth
( Latin: Ephestia kuehniella) This moth came originally from India. It was first found in Europe in about 1877 in American wheat. Nowadays there are few concerns dealing with flour and cereals which do not suffer from time to time from the depredations of this kind of moth. It may also become a menace in private […]
Small moths
( Latin: Microlepidoptera) Although one does not generally associate moths with foods, there are in fact some species which exploit foods and some of them are among the serious pests in stores and factories.
Booklice
Lat.: Order Psocoptera These insects are not related to the true lice. They prefer damp places, such as cellars, damp outside walls, or outhouses, and they may be found in new houses before the walls are dry. They cannot tolerate dryness. A female booklouse can lay a couple of hundred eggs, and under favourable conditions […]
Brown-banded cockroach
( Latin: Supella supellectilium) There are several other species of tropical cockroach which may suddenly appear in a warehouse or greengrocer’s shop, having been introduced with goods from warmer regions, but most of them quickly die in northern Europe. The brown-banded cockroach, which is now common in central Europe, has been recorded as breeding in south […]
Oriental or common cockroach
( Latin: Blatta orientalis) This species is found in the same kind of place as the German cockroach, but usually at an even higher temperature, and it is not as common. The wings are well-developed in the male, but they are reduced to short stumps in the female. The egg capsule contains about 15 eggs, and […]
German cockroach
( Latin: Blattella germanica) This is by far the most common species of cockroach in Europe. For most people the idea of having cockroaches on the kitchen table is in- tensely unpleasant, but for those with an eye for such things these are elegant insects. Both sexes have very well-developed wings, which cover the whole of […]
Cockroaches
( Latin: Sub-order Blattodea) Cockroaches are also regarded as primitive insects, and fossil species known from the Carboniferous period some 250 million years ago are very like those known today. There are about 3,500 different species of cockroaches and the vast majority of these live in the open and almost never come in contact with […]
Firebrat
( Latin: Thermobia domestica) As its popular and scientific names suggest, this is an insect that likes warmth. In fact it thrives best at a temperature around 37° C, and is therefore frequently found in bakeries and restaurant kitchens. Unlike the common silverfish it can survive under very dry conditions.
Silverfish
(Latin: Lepisma saccharina) The common silverfish frequently occurs in kitchens and comes out at night to feed on crumbs and odd scraps of food. It is capable of digesting cellulose and so can derive nutriment from paper. It is described in greater detail on p. 106 together with other pests that attack paper.
Order Thysanura
Latin: order Thysanura These are primitive insects, and the few living species are thought to be the descendants of a group which was very numerous about two hundred million years ago. Two species may be encountered indoors.