Biscuit beetle free#

It is also important to ensure that there are no food residues. It is able to feed on a variety of plant and animal products including bread and flour and even hot spices and drugs. Cracks and crevices, which may provide harborages for the beetles, should be kept to a minimum. The Bread beetle, Stegobium paniceum, also known as the Biscuit beetle (or the Drugstore beetle in the U.S.A.) is one of the commonest pest insects of stored food.

Regularly clean your food storage units and remove any disused or old food.

Biscuit beetle free#

To help eliminate an infestation, food should be kept in damp free and ventilated cupboards. The problem begins to occur at the larvae stage when they will begin to bore holes in which to pupate and in so doing may damage packaging and contaminating products with excrement and silk webbing. They are small reddish-brown insects, only about 3mm long, which attack stored foods in domestic cupboard and larders. It is common throughout the UK, especially in food storage and retailing premises, and are frequently encountered in a domestic property. It is also found in wool, cotton, silk, feathers, leather, books and paper. The Biscuit Beetle is found worldwide but more commonly in temperate latitudes. The golden spider beetle is a pest of stored food products such as grain, seeds, dried fruit, spices, fishmeal, dog biscuits, dried meat and tea. The adult beetles will live for up to approximately nine months, the peak activity reached being between August and November.

The larva then pupates, emerging as an adult beetle after a further 18 to 26 days. What are biscuit beetles The biscuit beetle is a stored product pest that is found throughout the world and is very common in the UK. The larval stage, which is where most of the damage is carried out, may last for up to 250 days.

The female golden spider beetle lays 20 to 40 eggs which then hatch after 11 to 30 days, this usually happens only once a year. DistributionĪlthough the larvae will feed mainly on woolens and natural silks, attacking textiles, they can actually survive on any material of natural origin. As general scavengers, they will eat a wide range of natural material such as vegetable and animal debris, so are frequently associated with old birds’ nests and found amongst stored food. In the wild the golden spider beetle will seek out dark areas, so they are often be found in poorly lit rooms such as store rooms, attics and cellars.