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Thread Number: 90086
/ Tag: Recipes, Cooking Accessories
Powder Post Beetles? |
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Post# 1146639 4/15/2022 at 19:48 (740 days old) by SudsMaster  (SF Bay Area, California) |
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For the past year or so, I've noticed tiny beetles flying around the house, usually at my desk in the family room, which is contiguous with the kitchen area. They would fly into the computer monitor or desk light. WTF?
I was initially worried these might be powder post beetles, but seemed to be smaller than what those are supposed to be. Like less than a millimeter in length. Finally I took to Google again and figured out what they must be. "Drugstore Beetles". Yup. Most likely. They are the right size, and are attracted to light. Where are they coming from? Well, I haven't cleaned out my supplies of dry noodles, bread flour, etc for quite a while. I expect I'll be finding traces, if not dozens, of these beetles in one or more of the packages. The old flours, noodles, etc will go into the compost pile in the back yard, where the beetles will meet their well deserved end. LOL. I am relieved, by the way, that they are not powder post beetles, which could decimate a timber structure. So for that, Yay. Any suggestions in addition to a thorough cleaning and disposal of old beetle food sources? | ||
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Post# 1146641 , Reply# 1 4/15/2022 at 20:10 (740 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California) |
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Eureka...
Found a prime suspect. An open box of Grape-Nuts ceral, in which the edge of the plastic bag inside had been cut. Probably tried it once and put it aside, without firmly sealing the bag. Plus, that might not have deterred the beetles, since the bag itself has a number of tiny holes in it, no doubt chewed through by determined bread or drugtore beetles. This doesn't mean the search is over, still have to go through all the cupboards and ferret out any containers that are not beetle-proof. But the solution is nigh. I don't really mind the things, other than that they are somewhat annoying. Like a friend of mine once said of another pest, "They just want to live". Well, not in my food supplies! LOL | ||
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Post# 1146642 , Reply# 2 4/15/2022 at 20:15 (740 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Went though such an infestation last year. Not sure what they were brought in on, but could have been anything from cereal to flour to powdered cocoa, or anything else in between.
entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/urb... pantrypest.com/drugstore-beetles... Yes, doing a through cleaning out of cupboards and any other area used to store cereals, grains, spices, cake/baking mixes, pet food, etc.... is required. However since the critters eat a wide variety of things, you may have to extend your cleaning and search beyond kitchen and food storage areas. As luck would have it keep flypaper up in kitchen which caught tons of them. Drug store beetles are attracted to light (like yourself first clue to infestation was the things landing on computer screen, or flying about light on desk), so this proved a blessing. Can also try keeping your home cooler with low relative humidity which seems to slow down their breeding and so forth. Hopefully they only came in recently on something purchased or otherwise have not set up extensive housekeeping in your home. Minor infestations are easily dealt with as we've not seen the critters since. Tip when examining containers, boxes, bags, and other containers for evidence of drug store beetles look for small holes. Once grubs reach mature stage they will chew their way out of infested things to find new homes. This and adults will make such holes to get into foods so can lay eggs. It also helps to examine bags, boxes and other containers of grains, cereals, cake mixes, tea, etc.. carefully when taking off shelf at supermarket. If you see said small holes, put it back.... | ||
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Post# 1146644 , Reply# 3 4/15/2022 at 20:46 (740 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California) |
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Post# 1146646 , Reply# 4 4/15/2022 at 21:09 (740 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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"..."rotate" older supplies into the compost pile anyway."
Yes, that is what one did as well. It's amazing what one will find in back of cupboards or shelves. Old packets of soup mixes, spices, cornstarch, etc.. Tons of it was all rubbished. According to professional chefs spices should be tossed after two years as they lose freshness and potency. Tend to stock up on various teas when on sale, but cannot consume all, so now have stopped that as well. Had an infestation of flour weevils around same time, and they even got into Rubbermaid containers. Though think one simply forgot to close lids and seal properly. Haven't seen them since either. | ||
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Post# 1146648 , Reply# 5 4/15/2022 at 22:01 (740 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California) |
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The offending beetle infested Grape Nuts cereal got dumped into the compost bin about an hour ago. I noticed that all the little grains of it were perforated with little beetle holes.
I actually had intended to dump it a year or more ago. I had for some reason placed it in an out-of-the way spot in a connecting room, on the way to the compost pile, and then ignored it. My bad. I did a partial clean of one of the cupboards but didn't find any beetle infested stuff. So I'm thinking that cereal box was the primary source. Whew. Yeah, still need to go through the rest of the stores. There are a LOT. LOL. This post was last edited 04/15/2022 at 23:03 | ||
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Post# 1146649 , Reply# 6 4/15/2022 at 22:10 (740 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Good thing you nipped things in bud early.
Have stopped buying things like cake mixes unless planning on baking right away. On more than a few occasions have opened a box of mix, pulled out plastic bag only to see scores of creepy crawlies moving about inside. Box is double bagged and rubbished in bin outside.... | ||
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Post# 1146656 , Reply# 8 4/16/2022 at 00:21 (740 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California) |
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Well, found another couple of boxes of beetle infested carbs. One was a box of Quaker Oatmeal, bag unopened, but the darn beetles had put holes in the plastic bag. The other was some Ghiradelli chocolate cake mix, same thing, holes in plastic bag(s). Both went outside until I can dump them into the compost bin. And before that, I'll be checking all the cupboards in the house for any more infestations.
And in future I'll be taking Matt's advice to put any new carb-rich mixes in the freezer for a few days after purchase. Thanks for the suggestion, Matt! | ||
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Post# 1147089 , Reply# 11 4/21/2022 at 15:11 (734 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California) |
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Noticed more druggie beetles in the kitchen sink this morning. Probably newly emerged ones from pupae in the as-yet-not-cleaned cupboards. I'm not too worried, I figure they are the last hurrah, as I *think* I located and disposed of all infested food stuffs around here. I'm assuming the larvae exit the foodstuffs and drop onto the cupboard shelves while they transform into the adult version, and that's what I'm seeing now.
And to repeat, I'm not as concerned about the druggie beetles as I would be about powder post beetles, which could ravage a wood frame house like this. | ||
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Post# 1147402 , Reply# 12 4/25/2022 at 22:54 (730 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California) |
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OK, now I'm slightly embarrassed.
Just found the source of the continuing drugstore beetles... I had stashed under a table in the kitchen a plastic container... a Rubbermaid "Roughneck"... 18 gallon, I think. Maybe 15 or 10. IDK. Anyway, I pulled it out of there, and low and behold it contained a big (25 lb) bag of "High Gluten" bread flour. That's because although I had stored the flour bag inside a plastic bag, the plastic was thin. And the lid on the Roughneck storage container doesn't seal completely. Let's just say there were hundreds of these damn beetles inside the flour bag, inside the plastic bag, and inside the Roughneck container. Since I can't quite remember the last time I made bread... probably at least five years old. Maybe 10. Maybe 15. Yikes! Anyway, I took the whole thing out to the trash area and gently placed the flour bag in there. Although, I probably should add it, beetles and all, to the compost bin. The Roughneck container is translucent with a blue lid. I could not find it on-line, it's that old, but did find a gray version which looks a lot like it, although mine may be smaller. I'm just glad I found the major beetle source!
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Post# 1147406 , Reply# 13 4/25/2022 at 23:48 (730 days old) by tolivac (greenville nc) |
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5 yr old flour won't be anygood anyway. | ||
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Post# 1147409 , Reply# 14 4/26/2022 at 00:01 (730 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California) |
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Post# 1147455 , Reply# 15 4/26/2022 at 18:08 (729 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California) |
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Post# 1147703 , Reply# 16 4/29/2022 at 19:42 (726 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California) |
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Found another drugstore beetle infestation: a plastic bag of pasta, that had been opened once, and then ineffectively resealed. Not a lot of beetles within, but enough to warrant emptying the bag outside into a bucket of water, let it sit for a few hours, till the pasta got soft, and then add it all to the compost pile.
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Post# 1147730 , Reply# 17 4/30/2022 at 05:33 (726 days old) by askolover (South of Nash Vegas, TN) |
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Post# 1147738 , Reply# 18 4/30/2022 at 09:35 (725 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California) |
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Greg,
As I understand it, some packaged food stuffs may be already contaminated with weevils/beetles/etc. Which is why we've seen the recommendation to stick the package in a freezer for a few days to kill off the critters. In other cases, a container might not have a tight enough seal to keep tiny beetles out. Or, as I discovered recently, the package may have been opened and not re-sealed tight enough before being put back in the pantry. | ||
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