Common Species of Pests found in Food

Lifecycle

• The female lays 150 - 200 eggs loosely and randomly on a food source.
• The larva can grow to 12.7 mm in length.
• When the larva is mature, it will actively leave the food source and search for a site in which to pupate.
• The larva pupates in a silk cocoon.

Habits

• The almond moth is found worldwide in processing facilities, warehouses and households.
• It feeds on grain, cereal products, oilseeds and dried plant products, like nuts, fruit and tobacco.
• The larva burrows into food and creates silk tunnels in which it will be concealed while feeding.
• Large larva can burrow through packing

Lifecycle

Australian spider beetles live for up to 3 – 4 months at 20 - 25°C.

Feeding Habits

Larvae are often found feeding on miscellaneous debris, and the Australia spider beetle possesses the ability to bore into various inedible materials prior to pupation. Active in dark, damp places, the Australian spider beetle is often associated with bird nests.

Lifecycle

• Lifecycle usually lasts 2-4 months.
• The larvae feed within the beans as they mature. 
• The larval stage can take from a few weeks to many months to complete, depending upon temperature and moisture of the bean. Pupation is within the bean. Circular holes are cut for the adult to emerge. 
• Development and breeding goes on as long as there is any food left in the bean and the temperature is right (warmer temperatures are preferred).

Habits

• Larvae feed mostly inside beans.
• These weevils attack all legumes, including kidney beans, green beans, peas and lentils. 
• Heavily infested peas are often reduced to shells.

Lifecycle

• Life cycle — 200 days at 17°C, 70 days at 28°C. Adults live for 13 to 65 days.

Habits

• Will often fly. Adults do not feed.

Lifecycle

• Liposcelis bostrychophila — prefers high temperatures 25–30°C. 
• Lepinotus patruelis — will breed at 5–15°C.

Habits

• Liposcelis bostrychophila — Common in homes. 
• Lepinotus patruelis — Common in factories and on pallets.

Lifecycle

With temperature limits of 15 - 32°C, broadhorned flour beetles cannot complete their life cycle below 10°C.

Feeding Habits

Feeds on flour, dough, semolina etc. Moth eggs and larvae may supplement the broadhorned flour beetle diet.

Lifecycle

The cheese mite favours warm, moist conditions and eggs mature in 10 days at room temperatures. Females can lay up to 900 eggs in a lifetime at a rate of 20 – 30 a day. Adult cheese mites can live for up to 60 – 70 days.

Feeding habits

With a preference for old cheese to young cheese, these mites also feed on nuts, dried eggs, fruit, flour and tobacco. Cheese mites are capable of contaminating foods to cause skin or gut irritation.

Lifecycle

• The adult beetles live from 2 to 4 weeks and during this time the females may deposit between 10-100 eggs.
• The eggs are laid loosely on the infested material.
• The larval period usually ranges from four to five months, but under very favorable conditions the development from egg to adult may occur in 6 to 8 weeks.
• When the larvae are fully grown, pupation occurs and they remain in this resting stage for 12 to 18 days.

Habits

• The Cigarette Beetle feeds off tobacco, dry stored food products, spices, seeds, grains and dried plant material.
• They have also been reported in rice, dried potatoes, paprika, raisins, grain-based mouse bait and dried straw flowers.
• Adult beetles often wander away from infested materials and may be found throughout the area.

Lifecycle

• The beetle flies to fields and lays its eggs on damaged cobs. 
• The larvae bore into coffee beans in which they pupate.

Habits

• They mainly infest corn, cocoa, coffee beans, dried fruits, nutmegs, ginger etc.

Lifecycle

• Female lays between 400 - 500 eggs, with peak oviposition occurring during the first week.
• Adults may live longer than 3 years, and females may lay eggs for more than a year.
• Eggs are deposited directly in flour, other food material, or attached to the surface of the container. They are white or colorless and covered by a sticky material to which flour can adhere.
• Eggs hatch in 3 - 5 days at 32 - 35°C. Larvae burrow into kernels of grain but may leave their burrows in search of a more favorable food.

Habits

• Feeds off grain, flour, and other cereal products, beans, cacao, cottonseed, shelled nuts, dried fruit, dried vegetables, drugs, spices, chocolate, dried milk and animal hides.
• They cannot feed on whole grain, but can feed on broken kernels that are usually present.

Lifecycle

• Females lay up to 30 eggs per day in cracks or crevices of cured fish. The eggs take between four and six days to hatch. 
• The larvae will grow for 30 to 140 days, become less active and look for a dark place to pupate. 
• The pupal stage varies between 6 and 21 days. 
• An adult will mate soon after emerging from its pupal stage and can live for up to 14 months.

Habits

• The adults fly and can therefore easily disperse to new sources of food. 
• They are destructive in both the larval and adult stages, although the larval stage is the most destructive. 
• They are also cannibalistic, preying on their own eggs and pupae.

Lifecycle

• 2–3 months at 18–25°C.

Habits

• Feeds on various animal products including cheese.

Lifecycle

• The adult beetles live from 2 to 4 weeks and during this time the females may deposit between 20-100 eggs.
• The hatching larvae are 0.5 mm long and very mobile.
• The larval period usually ranges from four to five months, but under favorable conditions the development from egg to adult may occur in 6 to 8 weeks.
• When the larvae are fully grown, pupation occurs and they remain in this resting stage for 12 to 18 days.

Habits

• It is not a major pest in stored grains but will attack spices, seeds, grains and dried plant material as well as packaging materials such as paper and cardboard.
• They have also been known to feed on leather, wool, hair and books.
• Their presence can be detected from pinhead holes in the infested items.
• Packaging materials such as paper and cardboard are also attacked.
• Since the drugstore beetle can fly well, the source of infestation can sometimes be hard to find.
• The drugstore beetle is not a major pest in stored grains.

Lifecycle

• Prefers warm damp conditions. 69–103 days at 21°C, 26 days at 38°C.

Habits

• Adults are winged but rarely fly. 
• Feeds on cereals, dates, dried fruits and other commodities.

Lifecycle

• 9–11 days at 23°C and 90% relative humidity.

Habits

• Under adverse conditions, may pass through a long and very resistant stage called a hypopus.

Lifecycle

• Adult females begin laying eggs around 3 - 4 days after emerging.
• Mated males and females have an average lifespan of 159 and 208 days, respectively.
• Eggs, which are laid singly or in clusters of two or three, hatch in 4 - 5 days.
• Larval development is completed in 11 - 19 days. When ready to pupate, the larva constructs a chamber of food particles cemented together.
• Pupation occurs after a prepupal period of 1 - 2 days, and adults emerge 3 - 5 days later.

Habits

• The adults are long lived, fly well and run very rapidly.
• This species occurs on a wide variety of foodstuffs, including grains, cereal products, oilseeds and their products, dried fruit, and spices.
• It is a scavenger that feeds on molds, dead insects, and damaged foods.
• On cereal grains, the embryo is a suitable food material. However, when found in large numbers they are probably feeding on molds present in the food.

Lifecycle

• Mating takes place outdoors after which they fly indoors to lay eggs. Normally one generation per year but development may extend to three years.

Habits

• Sometimes linked to the damage of textiles in the domestic home.
• Adults appear in greater numbers in June/July and October/November.

Lifecycle

• Egg to adult in 22 days at room temperature. 
• Adult lives for approximately 50 days.

Habits

• Capable of tainting foods and causing gut irritation. 
• Commonly feeds on flour, cereals and fungi. 
• Favours moist environmental conditions; common in damp poorly ventilated rooms.

Lifecycle

• 6 - 7 months at 20°C. Adults can live up to 9 months.

Habits

• Sometimes linked to the damage of textiles in the domestic home. 
• Adults appear in greater numbers in June/July and October/November.

Lifecycle

• The female lays an average of 10 eggs on a grain of maize and the hatched larvae bore into the grain. 
• The larva undergoes up to 4 development phases and pupates inside the corn grain. 
• Lifecycles can be quite short, in good conditions (25 days at 34 °C, 75% relative humidity) there are several generations per year.

Habits

• Adult beetle is a pest of stored maize, but also infests other types of grain. Larva bores tubular passages into the grain, typically making one main tunnel with smaller ones branching off. 
• Brought in from tropical Central America in cassava roots and tapioca products, as well as in starchy fruits and tubers.

Lifecycle

• The egg, larva, and pupa stages of these weevils occur in the grain kernels and are rarely seen.
• Emergence holes of the granary weevil are fairly large and tend to be more ragged than smooth and round.
• Females drill a tiny hole in the grain kernel, deposit an egg in the cavity, then plug the hole with a gelatinous secretion.
• The life cycle is about 30 to 40 days during the summer, and 123 to 148 days during the winter, depending on temperature.

Habits

• Most of their life is spent within the grain kernel.
• Both larvae and adults feed on grain.
• Grain weevils will also attack hard cereal products, e.g. macaroni and spaghetti.

Lifecycle

• The Indian meal moth female lays approximately 200 eggs, on food material during a 1-18 day period of time.
• Temperature and availability of food determine the length of the larval stages.
• The last instar larva leaves the food to find a suitable place for pupation.
• The complete life cycle takes 25-135 days, with 4-6 generations per year.

Feeding habits

• The adult Indian Meal Moth causes no damage.
• Their larvae produce the web material commonly found in food, such as dried fruits, whole wheat and, cornmeal, and shelled or ear corn.
• Attracted to grain, grain products; corn, lots of different dried foods, such as fruit, nuts, seeds, also, biscuits and powdered milk; chocolate, candy; dried red peppers; dry dog food.

Lifecycle

• Adults are short-lived, completing their adult life in one to two weeks.
• Mating occurs almost immediately after adult emergence, with oviposition for one to six days following.
• In ideal conditions the life cycle can be completed in as few as 30 days.
• The female lays up to 125 eggs loosely in the infested material.
• Eggs hatch in five to seven days.
• The larvae undergo 4 - 7 molts, resulting in the shedding of numerous cast skins.

Habits

• It is also considered to be a dirty feeder as it breaks or powders more grain than it consumes.
• They also contaminate the grain with larval skins and setae which have been known to cause gastrointestinal irritation.
• Feeds on rice, peanuts, dried animal skins, as well as its preferred natural foods such as wheat and malted barley.

Lifecycle

• 2–3 months at 18–25°C.

Habits

• Feeds on various animal products including cheese.

Lifecycle

• 2–3 months at 18–25°C.

Habits

• Feeds on various animal products and dried fish. Pupates in solid material, e.g. wood. 
• The quantity of white on the underside may vary according to species. Adults fly readily.

Lifecycle

• Adult females lay eggs singly or in groups of up to 30.
• The eggs are laid on the outside of the grain and a female can lay from 300 - 500 eggs.
• In hot summer conditions it may take as few as 30 days, but the average is about 58 days.
• Pupation takes place inside the hollow shell of the seed or in the "flour" that accumulates with infested grain.

Habits

• The lesser grain borer is primarily a pest in stored wheat and corn.
• It can infest tobacco, nuts, beans, bird seed, biscuits, cassava, cocoa beans, dried fruit, peanuts, spices, rodenticide baits, and dried meat and fish.

Lifecycle

• Females can lay up to at least 110 eggs a month and eggs hatch in 4-7 days. Larval development takes up to 7 weeks. Mature larvae seek a sheltered place to pupate for between 7 and 11 days. 
• An adult beetle may live up to two years.

Habits

• The beetles are attracted to poultry operations, which have ideal conditions for their development. The damage to insulation is carried out by lesser mealworms seeking a safe place to pupate because the darkling beetles prey on the lesser mealworms.

Lifecycle

• The egg, larva, and pupa stages of these weevils occur in the grain kernels and are rarely seen.
• Females drill a tiny hole in the grain kernel, deposit an egg in the cavity, then plug the hole with a gelatinous secretion.
• The egg hatches into a young larva which bores toward the center of the kernel, feeds, grows, and pupates there.
• New adults bore emergence holes from the inside, then leave to mate and begin a new generation.

Habits

• Both larvae and adults will feed upon grain.
• Weevil-damaged grain can be readily recognised by the presence of large holes which are the exit holes of the emerging adults.

Lifecycle

• The females lays about 300 eggs in her lifetime.
• Eggs are dropped loosely among grain kernels or tucked into a crevice in a kernel.
• The tiny eggs are slender and white, and hatch in three to five days when environmental conditions are optimal .
• The larvae emerge and crawl freely about the grain to feed on broken kernels. Larger larvae may tunnel into kernels to feed.
• Total development from egg to adult requires about three to four weeks.

Habits

• The Merchant Grain Beetle is a pest species found feeding in nuts, seeds, biscuits, dried fruit, grain and various other food products.
• The beetles can chew through sealed packaging such as cardboard boxes, plastic bags and foil wrappings.

Lifecycle

• The female lays between 100 - 700 eggs (usually 200) in and among the food source and usually fastens the eggs to the infested material.
• The eggs usually hatch in 3 - 5 days and the hatching larvae produce a lot of webbing.
• The young larvae confine themselves to silken tubes which are constantly spun.
• The larva attains full size in around 40 days. The larva pupates in or on top of the infested material (usually flour) or in cracks and crevices nearby.
• The life cycle can be completed in as few as 4 - 6 weeks but usually takes about 3 months.

Habits

• The Mediterranean flour moth is mostly found infesting flour and meal.
• It has also been found infesting grain, bran, cereal products, nuts, chocolate, seeds, beans, biscuits, dried fruits and other stored foods.

Lifecycle

• The adults live 3 to 6 months, infesting grain in the field.
• The egg, larva, and pupa stages of these weevils occur in the grain kernels and are rarely seen.
• Females drill a tiny hole in the grain kernel, deposit an egg in the cavity, then plug the hole with a gelatinous secretion.
• The egg hatches into a young larva which bores toward the center of the kernel, feeds, grows, and pupates there.
• New adults bore emergence holes from the inside, then leave to mate and begin a new generation.
• Female rice weevils lay between 300 to 400 eggs, with the life cycle requiring about 32 days for completion. Two larvae can develop in one wheat kernel.

Habits

• The adults can feign death by drawing up their legs close to the body, falling, and remaining silent when disturbed.
• Emergence holes of the rice weevil are smaller than those of the granary weevil, and tend to be smooth and round.
• There is generally no external evidence that the larvae have been eating and growing inside the seed until after about one month when the adult weevil chews through the seed coat and emerges.

Lifecycle

• Eggs laid singly on moist substances and typically develop in 3–19 days. 
• The larvae pass through two stages before reaching adulthood. 
• Adults are most common in spring and early summer.

Habits

• They are common in habitats with large numbers of fly larvae, e.g. decaying fruit or seaweed, compost. 
• The larvae and adults are general predators of small insects and other arthropods, including pests of crops.

Lifecycle

• The female lays approximately 400 - 500 eggs, with peak oviposition occurring during the first week.
• Adults may live longer than 3 years, and females may lay eggs for more than a year.
• Eggs are deposited directly in flour, other food material, or attached to the surface of the container. They are white or colorless and covered by a sticky material to which flour can adhere.
• Eggs hatch in 3 - 5 days at 32 - 35°C. Larvae burrow into kernels of grain but may leave their burrows in search of a more favorable food.
• Larvae are fairly active but generally hide within the food, away from light.
• Development time from egg to adult varies with conditions, however the average is 26 days at 32 - 35°C and >70% relative humidity (R/H).

Habits

• When agitated or crowded, they may secrete chemicals called quinones. These chemicals can cause the infested feed to turn pink and have a pungent odor.
• They have been reported in grain, flour, and other cereal products, beans, cacao, cottonseed, shelled nuts, dried fruit, dried vegetables, drugs, spices, chocolate, dried milk and animal hides.
• They cannot feed on whole grain, but can feed on broken kernels that are usually present.
• In general, fungi may play a significant role in the nutrition of rust-red flour beetles.

Life Cycle

• The female lays eggs singly or in small batches in the food product. She lays about 200 eggs in her lifetime.
• Eggs hatch after about 8 days.
• The life cycle takes about 35 days and the larvae feed in the top few centimetres of the food stuff.
• Adults usually live around 6 to 10 months.

Feeding Habits

• The larvae develop in flour, cereal products, and many other dried foods, including grains, cereals, bread, pasta products, dried meat, dried fruit and nuts, sugar, chocolate, candy, tobacco products and drugs.
• A common pest not only in grain bins, but also, mills, processing plants, warehouses, and kitchens.
• In grain bins, it feeds on broken kernels and grain residues.
• The beetles can chew through sealed packaging such as cardboard boxes, plastic bags and foil wrappings.

Lifecycle

• Females lay up to 120 eggs either singly or in batches during early summer. The eggs hatch within 16 days, and remain in the larval stage for up to 6 weeks. 
• Adults emerge after 20-30 days of the pupal stage and may live for up to 12 months. 
• At the optimum temperature for development (33°C) it takes about 45 days for the life cycle to be complete.

Habits

• Shiny spider beetles are tolerant of cool conditions and can stay alive for long periods without food. 
• If disturbed, they will act as if dead.

Life Cycle

• The female deposits about 100 eggs, singly or in small clusters.
• The caterpillars cover the infested goods with webbing.
• Pupation occurs in a cocoon.
• The development period depends on warmth and nutrition. Depending on the season, complete development takes 2-6 months.

Habits

• The Tobacco Moth feeds on cocoa beans and tobacco, but also infests nuts, dried fruit and cereals.
• Adult moths do not feed.
• The larval feeding cause the most damage due to contamination with excrement and cocoons is immense. Besides tobacco, the pest infests cocoa, nuts, dried fruits, coffee, corn maize, wheat and spice

Lifecycle

• Lifecycle usually lasts between 1.5-6 months. 
• The larva is up to 10mm long, and pale cream with indistinct dark brown markings. 
• The larva has 3 pairs of legs and is very bristly.

Habits

• May be found in many organic materials such as seeds, grains, most types of packaged foods, snail baits, dog biscuits, stock feeds, old rodent baits, grain remnants in sacks, bee and wasp nests, rodent carcasses, dead insects, animal droppings etc. 
• The hairs dropped by larvae may cause human problems such as asthma, skin problems or gastric disorders.

Lifecycle

• 3 - 4 months at 20 - 25°C.

Habits

• Will feign death if disturbed. Active in dark, damp places. Often linked to birds nests.

Lifecycle

• Each female lays about 275–600 eggs singly or in clusters during the spring. 
• They are white, bean-shaped and about 1/32" long and hatch into larvae in 4 to 14 days. 
• The pupal stage lasts 7 to 24 days during the spring. Pupae are first white, turning yellow, and are not enclosed in a cocoon. 
• Adults emerge in the spring or early summer, living for two to three months.

Habits

• They are highly resistant to cold temperatures. 
• It is an important post–harvest pest and occurs spread all over the world. 
• Adult beetles are attracted to night-lights, are strong fliers, and are found in dark places.