Physical Characteristics

The drugstore beetle – also known as the bread beetle and biscuit beetle – got its name because it infested stored herbs in apothecaries, or early drugstores. Adults are 1/16 to 1/8 inches long and reddish brown-to brown in color. The drugstore beetle looks a lot like the cigarette beetle (or tobacco beetle), except that the drugstore beetle’s elytra, or shell-like wing covers, are grooved lengthwise, whereas the cigarette beetle’s elytra are smooth. Its antennae culminate in a three-segment club, and are not serrated or saw-toothed like a cigarette beetle’s antennae. Drugstore beetle larvae are 1/16 to 1/8 inches long, whitish, C-shaped, with many short hairs, and look virtually indistinguishable from cigarette beetle larvae.

Beetle_Drugstore

Drugstore Beetle

Behavior
Drugstore beetles will attack stored food, herbs and spices, along with items containing keratin – hair, horn, leather, and museum specimens. They’re often found in bread, flour, meal, breakfast cereal, and such spices as red pepper; they also will feed on books and manuscripts. Adults can fly, and they’re attracted to light.

Treatment:

Inspect the above-mentioned items for drugstore beetles or other pests, keep your kitchen and other areas clean, store items in Tupperware-type containers or sealed glass jars in a dry place, and rotate products, using your older goods first. Also, be on the lookout for bird nests, which can provide harborage to – and thus be a source of – drugstore beetles. If you think your drugstore beetle problem is escalating, call Clark Pest Control. Our highly trained technicians have the expert knowledge to solve your pest problem quickly.


Latin name: Stegobium paniceum