Phone: (616) 394-9100
Stored Product Pests
Pantry pests are found throughout Michigan and can be very common any time of the year. Dozens of different insects and mites infest our stored grains, nuts and fruits. The following are some of the most common stored product pests.
About Stored
Product Pests
A small, brown, flat beetle with distinct serrations along the thorax distinguishes the saw-toothed grain beetle. This beetle can easily penetrate boxed foods and infests cereals, fruits, sugar, macaroni and even dried meats.
Saw-Toothed Grain Beetle
Image courtesy Clemson University,USDA Cooperative Ext. Slides, Bugwood.org
As the names denotes, these beetles infest most milled grain products but will also feed on beans, peas, spices, nuts and fruits. Flour Beetles are reddish brown and approximately 1/8 inch long. These insects are very common in stores and kitchens alike.
Flour Beetles
Image courtesy Peggy Greb, USDA Agricultural Research Svc., Bugwood.org
This family of beetles includes the carpet beetle and warehouse beetle. They are very common in about any structure. These beetles are a pest only when in larger numbers. All of these beetles feed on high protein foods such as dog food and dead insects. They can be often found around the edges of carpet where they feed on spilled foods and debris.
Dermestids
Image © Dario Lo Presti/Dreamstime.com
The cigarette beetle is a small brown oval insect that infests tobacco products wherever it is stored but also feeds on almost anything eatable. They will feed on paper, upholstered furniture, pepper, dried fish, and even the insecticide powder pyrethrum.
Cigarette Beetle
Image courtesy USDA – ARS
Similar to the Cigarette Beetle, the Drugstore Beetle is a common pest of homes and warehouses worldwide. This beetle can be recognized by the lines lengthwise down the wing covers. It is about 1/10 inch and reddish brown and will infest just about anything edible.
Drugstore Beetle
Indian Meal Moths are small, tan and white moths that will infest most grain products. It prefers dried fruits and products in seed form, such as bird food, popcorn, whole corn, etc. They are often seen towards evening flying about the room.
Indian Meal Moth
Image courtesy NPMA
Good sanitation and storage practices are essential in preventing stored product pest problems. Cupboards should be kept clean and free of food debris. Packaged products should be transferred to tightly sealed containers. When packages are stored for a long time, they are an open invitation to pantry pests.
Many times these pests can be a “do it yourself” project. Bring any captured insect to Shorline Pest & Wildlife Control for identification, and we can give you information on how to control them. If you need further help, we will be there for you.
Preventing Pests in Stored Products
Summer Landscape Pests
Root Weevil
Image © Whitney Cranshaw, Bugwood.org
The Root Weevil is a small, dark brown-to-black beetle whose abdomen is the size and shape of a BB. This beetle hatches in the middle of summer from various roots of common, low-level plants such as ivy. It commonly enters the house in large numbers and just wanders from room to room. This slow-moving beetle has a habit of dropping to the floor when you reach to capture it.
Wireworm
Image © Clemson University – USDA Cooperative Extension Slide Series, Bugwood.org
Wireworms are actually the larvae of click beetles. They live and grow under wood mulch and moist conditions by home foundations. These insects can be troublesome to eliminate because only a few insecticides are effective against them.
Pill Bugs and Sow Bugs are small, prehistoric-looking pests that can harbor in huge numbers under wood mulch, especially if the mulch is allowed to build up depth year after year. Extremes of wet, dry or hot weather drives them inside, where they do no damage but are an annoyance.
Pill Bugs/Sow Bugs
Millipedes, like Pill bugs, live and breed very well under wood mulch. Extreme weather conditions will also push them into homes.
Millipedes
Image © Fei Li/Dreamstime.com
Crickets can enter homes and do chewing damage to many kinds of fabrics, and annoy everyone with the “chirp”. Mostly nocturnal, they usually enter the home from harborage just outside.
House Cricket
Image © Petrp/Dreamstime.com
Earwig
Image © Melinda Fawver/Dreamstime.com
Easily recognized by its forceps-like tail appendage, the earwig is a major garden pest, as well as an annoying household pest. Even though they look scary, they can’t harm you in any way. Earwigs, crickets, pillbugs, millipedes, wireworms and other landscaping pests are best treated by changing their habitat.
Replace wood mulch every year and reduce automatic watering. Or try to power spray the area adjacent to the house that is causing the problem. Shoreline Services can often treat these problems the same day you call!
These are tiny red mites that come thru windows and doors in huge numbers. They do not bite, but when crushed leave red marks on window sills and curtains. Hatching in early spring in lush, over-fertilized lawns, Clover Mites can become an annoying problem.
Over-fertilizing seems to be a determining factor in overpopulation. Less fertilizer in early spring will help in control. Proper treatment in affected areas outside will also complete control.
Clover Mites
Japanese Beetles are a common summertime pest of ornamental and garden plants. If left alone, they can devastate plants and become very annoying with their large numbers. Pheromone Traps are available at many garden centers.
Always use these traps far away from plants and people, as they lure large numbers of beetles that may not have come on their own. Insecticide treatments are also effective on affected plants.
Japanese Beetles
Image © Nancy Kennedy/Dreamstime.com
Ticks & Spiders
This group includes a couple of ticks that are both annoying and disease carriers. American Dog Tick and Deer Ticks are common in our area and should not be taken lightly. These ticks are vectors of several diseases that are very serious.
Shoreline’s Solution: Treating vegetation outside the home where ticks reside will decrease their population. Also cutting down taller bushes and grasses in areas people travel will keep them form hitching a ride.
Ticks
Image © Mohammed El Damir, Bugwood.org
Outside Spiders
by the Lake
Image © Rolfaasa/Dreamstime.com
Spiders are generally considered the good guys in the pest world. There are over 38,000 named species of spiders and there are many more that have yet to be identified. They do their share to help keep insect populations in check. We realize that in certain situations, spiders can become a serious pest.
People living next to lakes know that spiders will build up in large numbers on the siding of their houses. This is due to the large number of insects that hatch from the lake and are attracted to the lights of the house at night. This creates a perfect ambush spot for spiders to live and breed. If left unchecked, this situation will necessitate constant cleaning of their webs and droppings from the siding.
Shoreline’s Solution: Shoreline Pest & Wildlife Control has developed a program specifically for the lakefront homeowner. Learn more about our spider treatment program in the Residential Services area of our website!
This spider is found mostly in basements but can often be found in all rooms of the house. It has a very small body with long legs and spends most of its time in a wispy web in corners. This spider breeds quickly to large numbers and can become an annoying pest.
Shoreline’s Solution: Treating the inside rooms where this spider is found is most effective. One treatment each year will virtually eliminate this pest.
Cellar Spiders
Wolf spiders are very common, web-less spiders that resemble Tarantulas, but usually are smaller. They sometimes become pests in the fall when they come into the home looking for warmth.
Shoreline’s Solution: If the numbers are large enough to be a pest, they are usually rejected with a repellant treatment in the fall.
Image © Teresa Kenney/Dreamstime.com
Wolf Spiders
These spiders are actually quite common in Michigan. Their secretive habits keep them from being seen often. Venomous, but rarely deadly, these spiders usually are not numerous enough to warrant control.
Shoreline’s Solution: Treatment is usually not needed unless populations are noticed to be large. In that case a residual insecticide treatment is effective.
Image © Gordon Miller/Dreamstime.com
Black Widow
This very venomous spider is extremely rare in our area. Those few that have been reported here have likely been accidentally transported from more southern states.
Shoreline’s Solution: If found inside your home, first, have it positively identified. We would then recommend treating the entire house if this spider has been found.
Image © iStock.com/Schiz-Art
Brown Recluse