Cigarette Beetle

How to tell if you have Flat Grain beetle

The Flat Grain beetle is part of the bran bugs family. This family consists of the Flour mill beetle, the Rusty grain beetle, and the flat grain beetle. Similarly to the other stored product insects, the flat grain beetle can be found in places, where cereals are stored, as well as foods such as flour, wheat, dried fruits, nuts, barley, rice, corn, and others.

• With a flattened, light red to dark reddish brown body, the flat grain beetle is characterized by very long antennae and adults are an approximate 2.5mm in length.
• Use a magnifying glass and flashlight to help with the inspection.
• Larvae are a yellow-white in colour, developing from 0.5mm to 4mm when mature.
• Adults are winged but rarely fly.
• They are small, active insects which readily exploit cracks and crevices where they can hide.

Upon identifying an infestation,  DO NOT tidy up any evidence just Contact Us and we will help/advise with the next step in preparing an eradication program.

The program will consist of:-

• We would start with a thorough inspection of all known and suspected spots where they might be hiding.
• Customer to try get a sample for us to identify.
• We only carry out a treatment when a confirmed infestation is present as this is the correct thing to do for many reasons, but the main one is cost savings. There is no point in paying to try and kill something that is not even present.
• Identifying the insect species causing the problem.
• We will ask you to start by removing all infested products, cleaning and vacuuming all areas to pick up any loose debris/insects
• Education explaining the life cycle and how their habits, habitat, and behavior affects the control plan.
• Treating affected areas by using safe effective control products.
• Scheduling a follow-up visit if required.

Prevention

Freeze and kill it: It is advised to keep packets of spices and flour in the freezer for four days as soon as you have bought it. You can do this to flour, oats, cookies, cornmeal, and spices. This will kill all the larvae and eggs (if) present inside the packet and will stop further infestation. Take it out and store it in the normal place.

For domestic premises: regular cleaning of the kitchen and the areas, where stored products are kept, as well as sanitization and regular checks of these products. All newly-brought products should be checked and placed into a glass jar with a lid so that any access of the pest can be limited. The property should be thoroughly cleaned and all infested products should be disposed of. Paper or foil lining should be placed on the shelves before replacing the products.

In case there is an infestation already present and it cannot be dealt with cleaning, Avanti Pest Solutions offers heat treatment and fumigation services, which will eradicate the problem and will leave your property or business pest-free. Both treatments the heat treatment and the fumigation are complex, which means that they will not only help to rid you of your stored product pest but also of other pests, such as bedbugs etc. The advantage of the heat treatment, compared to the fumigation, is that it is eco-friendly, as it only uses a high temperature for the eradication of all life stages of the pests.