Drugstore Beetle
Appearance:
Adult drugstore beetles are about 1/16 to 1/8 inch long, oval shaped and reddish brown to brown in color. This beetle has numerous tiny pits on the elytra (wing covers) that are arranged in longitudinal rows. The head and prothorax (front portion of the thorax) are bent downward, making the head barely or not visible from above and giving this beetle a strongly humpbacked appearance. The mature larva is about 1/8 inch long, white and C-shaped, with many short hairs and 6 tiny legs.
Habitat:
The drugstore beetle attacks a host of dry items that include many household foods and spices, as well as such things as drugs, hair, horn, leather, dead insects, dry carcasses, and museum specimens. Most commonly attacked are bread, flour, meal, breakfast foods, snack foods and condiments such as red pepper. It is also a pest of books and manuscripts. Adults can fly and they are attracted to light.
Diet:
Larvae can damage whole grains or seeds; adults feed on any dried, food-based material.
Solutions:
What you can do: The first step towards stopping an infestation of drugstore beetles is locating and, if possible, removing the food source(s) or excluding the breeding site(s). Beetles and larvae can be removed using a vacuum cleaner fitted with a hose attachment. Dried foods/ingredients, spices, snack foods and other vulnerable items should be stored in airtight, thick-walled containers until needed.
Professional Solutions:
A Quik-Kill service technician will assist in locating drugstore beetle breeding sources and making recommendations for preventing re-infestation. Dead animals / carcasses will be removed, if accessible.
A spot treatment of an infested structural void or a crack and crevice treatment into cabinet and shelf corner seams / junctures may be applied by the technician to stop additional pest breeding.
Click here to request additional information or to schedule your free inspection to determine treatment recommendations.
Locations
Proudly serving and providing pest elimination (not pest control !) to Central Illinois and North Central Illinois area since 1968, including the counties of LaSalle (Cedar Point, Dana, Earlville, Grand Ridge, Kangley, La Salle, Leland, Leonore, Lostant, Marseilles, Mendota, Naplate, North Utica, Oglesby, Ottawa, Peru, Ransom, Rutland, Sheridan, Streator, Tonica, Troy Grove), Livingston (Campus, Chatsworth, Cornell, Cullom, Dwight, Emington, Fairbury, Flanagan, Forrest, Long Point, Odell, Pontiac, Reading, Saunemin, Strawn), McLean(Anchor, Arrowsmith, Bellflower, Bloomington, Carlock, Chenoa, Colfax, Cooksville, Danvers, Downs, Ellsworth, Gridley, Heyworth, Hudson, Le Roy, Lexington, McLean, Normal, Saybrook, Stanford, Towanda), Bureau (Arlington, Buda, Bureau Junction, Cherry, Dalzell, De Pue, Dover, Hollowayville, Kasbeer, La Moille, Ladd, Malden, Manlius, Mineral, Neponset, New Bedford, Ohio, Princeton, Seatonville, Sheffield, Spring Valley, Tiskilwa, Van Orin, Walnut, Wyanet, Zearing), DuPage (Addison, Bensenville, Bloomingdale, Bolingbrook, Carol Stream, Clarendon Hills, Darien, Downers Grove, Elmhurst, Glendale Heights, Glen Ellyn, Itasca, Lisle, Lombard, Medinah, Naperville, Oakbrook, Roselle, Villa Park, Warrenville, Westmont, West Chicago, Wheaton, Willowbrook, Winfield, Woodbridge, Wood Dale, York Center), Grundy (Aux Sable, Braceville, Carbon Hill, Coal City, Diamond, Dwight, East Brooklyn, Gardner, Godley, Kinsman, Mazon, Minooka, Morris, Nettle Creek, Saratoga, Seneca, South Wilmington, Verona, Wauponsee), Kane (Burlington, Carpentersville, Elburn, Elgin, Geneva, Gilberts, Hampshire, Lily Lake, North Aurora, Pingree Grove, Sleepy Hollow, St. Charles, South Elgin, Sugar Grove, Virgil, West Dundee), Kankakee (Aroma Park, Bonfield, Bourbonnais, Bradley, Buckingham, Essex, Grant Park, Herscher, Hopkins Park, Irwin, Kankakee, Manteno, Momence, Reddick, St. Anne, Sun River Terrace, Union Hill), Kendall (Boulder Hill, Bristol, Lisbon, Millbrook, Millington, Newark, Oswego, Plano, Yorkville), Lee (Amboy, Ashton, Compton, Dixon, Franklin Grove, Harmon, Maytown, Nelson, Paw Paw, Steward, Sublette, West Brooklyn), Putnam (Granville, Hennepin, Magnolia, Mark, McNabb, Standard), Will (Beecher, Bolingbrook, Braidwood, Crest Hill, Frankfort, Joliet, Lakewood Shores, Lockport, Manhattan, Mokena, Monee, New Lenox, Romeoville, Shorewood, Steger, University Park), Woodford (Bay View Garden, Benson, Cazenovia, Congerville, Cruger, Goodfield, El Paso, Eureka, Germantown Hills, Kappa, Metamora, Minonk, Panola, Roanoke, Secor, Spring Bay, Washburn)
