Pittsburgh Grain Beetle Control Exterminator
What keeps getting in my food? Well, now that you bring it up! Grain beetles are one of several types of food pests we have in PA, but whereas the Indian meal moth makes itself known that it is in the building by flying and leaving webs everywhere, grain beetles stay out of sight until it’s the holidays and time to bake again. You pull the flour out to sift into a mixture and suddenly you’ve got beetles and their egg sacs scattered all over the counter after tossing down your measuring cup & sifter in horror.
How did get these things? To pinpoint where grain beetles may originate from would be difficult, as they’re an agricultural pest, meaning that if you found it in your home, it probably came from the distributor or farmer that sourced it. Farms are littered with these things as the beetle loves any type of cracked or damaged grains, kernels or ground materials. The short answer would be: you bought a product at the store that had the insect or eggs in it.
What can I do to prevent this from happening? With flour, we would suggest sifting through when you have anything suspect that might appear in a bag, then storing it and any other types of grain products in air-tight sealed containers. But keep in mind that there are countless different types of food (especially pet food) that may be infested which makes detection very difficult at times. Our experienced technicians will make suggestions to minimize chances for future infestation after performing an Grain Beetle Control inspection.
Wonderful. Now that I’m on 24/7 Flour-watch, how do I get rid of the ones I have? Well give us a call at Budget Pest Control, Inc. to speak about our Grain Beetle Control. Our friendly office staff would be more than happy to answer any questions you may have and explain preparations needed for our treatment process. We can also provide you with an estimate and if you wish have one of our certified experienced technicians out to your home 7 days a week!
Stats
Saw-toothed grain beetles, which are most common in our area, are very small insects, only measuring about 1/8 of an inch in length. They are dark brown in color and are very flat compared to other species of beetles.
Did You Know?
- Grain beetles have a unique ability compared to other stored-product pests. Unlike most of these insects that would require an opening in packages to access products, the grain beetle will actually forcibly enter packaging by chewing their way through.
- Saw tooth grain beetles get their name from the unique pattern that the edges of their thorax.
Myths & Facts
MYTH: If a product infested by grain beetles is thrown out, the problem will cease shortly after.
FACT: Like with all stored-product pests, not only will the infested material need to be thrown out, but the house must be treated with a residual insecticide, as these pests can move from these products to under baseboards, other areas of a pantry or even other areas of a kitchen/home.
Signs of An Infestation
- The presence of the insect within boxed, bagged or sacked grains.
- A number of holes appearing in stored products. These holes will typically be found on surfaces of packages that are contacting the shelf directly, as it will be an easy point of entry for the insect.
- Although it will be much harder to see, cracked kernels of grain or products with odd spotting to them (this will be an indication of the product being infested with insect eggs.)
