Inguinal flat beetle

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.