Cereal leaf beetle

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Oryzaephilus surinamensis

A slender body and the toothed neck shield are the most important identifying features of this small beetle. It is distributed worldwide. It is primarily a dangerous pest of cereals, but it also attacks dough and baked goods, rice, dried fruit, medicinal herbs, spices, chocolate, nuts, tobacco and dried meat. Approx. 3 mm long, slender, flattened beetle, tobacco brown, with 6 pointed teeth on both sides of the pronotum. The female lays approx. 300 eggs in and around the nutrient substrate. Development takes about 3 weeks depending on the temperature. Mass development can occur in warm grain stores. Sensitive to frost and dry air.

Bread beetle

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Stegobium paniceum

Like the American rice flour beetle, the bread beetle is one of the most serious and widespread storage pests in the world. In addition to bread, pastries, flour, rice, pulses, chocolate, coffee substitutes, tea, nuts, dried mushrooms, spices and herbs, it also feeds on cork, leather and paper. Found in warehouses, food processing plants and libraries. Reddish-brown, approx. 3 mm long beetle. Whole animal does not feed. Lays up to 100 eggs on food materials. Newly hatched larvae are white, spread over long distances and penetrate everywhere. Pupa in oval cases spun together from food particles. Usually only one generation per year.

Grain weevil

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Sitophilus granarius

3.5-5 mm long, brown to black, flightless weevil. The grain weevil primarily attacks the whole grain, into which it drills a hole, lays its egg and seals the hole with a secretion. The larva develops inside the grain and is difficult to recognize from the outside. The grains, which look almost normal on the outside, contain larvae or pupae. Wheat, rye, oats, barley, maize, millet, rice, but also pasta, flour and pulses are affected. However, it does not develop in ground products and soon dies after eating legumes and soybeans. Development from egg to larva and pupa to adult takes place in cereal grains, occasionally also in pasta, pearl barley, etc. The female lays around 200 eggs, with 250,000 offspring per female in 3 generations per year.

American rice flour beetle

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Tribolium confusum

The American rice mealybug is one of the most dangerous synanthropic pests of all. Originally from Africa, it has now spread all over the world. Its occurrence has increased rapidly in recent decades. It is one of the most common flour pests and has a very broad food spectrum. It attacks Grains of all kinds, pulses, pasta, chocolate, nuts, animal feed, natural food collections, dried fruit and vegetables. The excreted defensive secretions increase the spoilage of infested foodstuffs and animal feed and can be harmful to health. Beetle maroon, 4 mm long. Fine dotted stripes and longitudinal ribs on the elytra. Eggs 300-600, larvae yellowish-brown, up to 8 mm long. Development time from egg to beetle at room temperature approx. 3-4 months. Several generations per year. Little resistant to cold and lack of food.

Mealybug

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Tenebrio molitor

With its size of almost 2 cm, the flour beetle is a relatively easy pest to see. Its tracks are easy to recognize. Although it has been common in mills and bakeries for centuries, because it is so easy to spot, it rarely occurs en masse. It poses a certain health risk as it acts as an intermediate host for the rat tapeworm. Beetle approx. 12-20 mm long, brown when newly hatched, later black, dotted stripes on elytra. Approx. 150-200 sticky eggs are laid between the food. Larva up to 28 mm long, first white, then yellow-brown, smooth, known as “mealworm”. Development time from egg to beetle approx. 1 ½ years.

Cereal capuchin

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Rhyzopertha dominica

The cereal capuchin is the main pest of cereals in the USA and is also on the rise here. Just as fatal as the grain moth The neck shield of the 3 mm long, black-brown beetle is hooded over the head. The strong constriction behind the neck shield and the dotted stripes on the wing covers are striking. 300-500 eggs are laid on cereal grains. The larvae develop and pupate in the grain. At normal temperature approx. 2 generations per year. If the grain is stored too warm, development takes approx. 5 weeks, corresponding to several generations per year.

Inguinal flat beetle

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Cryptolestes ferrugineus

The beetles and larvae are often found in grain stores. The warmer the weather, the shorter the development time from larva to adult. In summer, this takes about 5 weeks, and in the case of mass infestations it can be reduced to 3 weeks, which significantly accelerates the increase in the population. Cereals, broken grain, flour, rusks, other cereal products and also oilseeds are infested. Mass infestations can also lead to large clumps in the substrate and the nests have to be laboriously dug out. The beetles are approx. 2 mm long, brown, flat with long antennae and a pronotum without teeth. Otherwise like cereal leaf beetles.

Rice weevil

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Sitophilus oryzae

The rice weevil looks similar to the grain weevil, but differs from it in its ability to fly and the four indistinctly marked orange dots on its wing covers. Like the grain weevil, it attacks the whole grain, even if it is still in the field, and lays its eggs in the grain. The rice weevil prefers warmer temperatures. Due to the changed storage conditions in production, it can also overwinter in our country, as the temperature never drops significantly without artificial cooling in large bulk quantities. Its breeding and feeding behavior is the same as that of the grain weevil. All types of grain, maize and millet are infested and, like the grain weevil, it can also be found in various food-processing companies as well as storage facilities. Beetle approx. 3 mm long, brown to black with 4 orange spots on the wing covers, able to fly. Damaging effect as with the grain weevil.

Black grain rodent

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Tenebrioides mauretanicus

The black grain rodent is introduced into mills through animal feed. It primarily preys on other insect pests, e.g. flour mites, larvae of the grain weevil and related species. It prefers to attack the seedling of the grain. The beetle is shiny black-brown, strongly flattened, deeply constricted between the pronotum and rump, approx. 11 mm long. The number of eggs is between 500 and 1000. Dirty white larva, approx. 20 mm long, often bores into soft wood to pupate. Development period approx. 1 year. Beetle very long-lived.

Common nail beetle

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Small woodworm
Anobium punctatum

Very harmful! Probably the most widespread and most dangerous wood pest in Europe. It primarily infests dry and processed wood, mass reproduction occurs in roof trusses, in dry, processed (older) softwood and hardwood in intermediate structures, beams, furniture and stairs. Infested wood looks as if it has been shot with fine shot, the flight holes of the adult insects are Ø1-2 mm. The wood is completely decomposed and pulverized by the larvae. Infestation can be recognized by loose drill dust on or in front of the drill holes.