Bread grinder beetle: an unpretentious pest of food

The bread borer is a common pest that spoils food supplies. Light brown bugs prefer to settle in flour and any flour products. Especially if they are left in an accessible place. The grinder does not disdain cereals, dried vegetables, tea, dried fruits, animal food, tobacco, book bindings and medicinal herbs. The larvae eat absolutely everything except iron!

When insects are small in number, they don’t even make themselves known; for a long time you may not suspect that the food is contaminated, but when there are a lot of them, they crawl along the walls and are often visible on the windowsill and on the floor.

What does a bread grinder look like: photo

Bread grinder.

Methods for killing insects in products

Methods for getting rid of parasites in food products in the kitchen depend on the type of pests and the products themselves. As for flour, the answer is clear: the flour should be thrown away. The likelihood of toxic and allergenic pest excrement getting into the product is too high.

If parasites have infected the cereal, it should be washed in water. Beetles and their larvae are lighter than water, so they will float to the surface. Legumes should be soaked in salt water for some time. Then the water is drained and the products are dried. Before washing, it is advisable to sift the cereal through a sieve with medium holes in order to get rid of grains of pest excrement.

Pests of cereals and flour in the kitchen cannot tolerate extreme temperatures. Therefore, it is enough to place bags of cereals in the freezer overnight or heat the cereals in the oven at a temperature of 110 degrees Celsius, distributing them on a baking sheet.

Borax-based bait can be used as a chemical pest control product. Semolina, powdered sugar and borax or boric acid are mixed in equal proportions into the dough and rolled into balls, which are laid out in kitchen cabinets. The recipe is especially effective against flour beetle.

Important! Under no circumstances should you use chemicals to control pests. You can be poisoned by toxins! Regardless of the chosen method of combating the pests themselves, it is necessary to treat furniture and utensils where pests lay eggs

Treatment is carried out with a vinegar solution

Regardless of the chosen method of combating the pests themselves, it is necessary to treat the furniture and dishes where the pests lay eggs. The treatment is carried out with a vinegar solution.

Description of the beetle

Name: Bread grinder Lat.:
Stegobium paniceum

Class: Insects - Insecta Order: Coleoptera - Coleoptera Family: Grinders - Stegobium

"Hairy" grinder.

The body of the bug has an oblong shape with rounded edges, and the color can vary from light brown to brown, with a reddish tint. The length of an adult insect usually does not exceed 1.7-3.8 mm.

The entire surface of the bread grinder's body is densely covered with short, brown hairs. Sexual dimorphism of females and males is practically not expressed and their only external difference is the slight superiority of males in size.

Prevention measures

To avoid encountering uninvited guests, do this:

• varnished or unpainted surfaces are wiped with a mixture of turpentine, wax and creolin (10:5:3), the solid components are melted;
• check all lumber, including ornamental pieces, frames, old furniture;
• plaster the walls with the addition of antiseptic components;
• Grinders love moisture, so they organize good ventilation and airing in the bathhouse and bathrooms.

If beetles are detected, all pieces of furniture and structure are checked. Taking timely measures will prevent the destruction of wood. But it is better to throw away severely damaged furniture. In particularly difficult cases, exterminators are called.

Development cycle of a bread grinder

In residential areas, these harmful bugs successfully live and reproduce all year round, but in the natural environment they are found only in the first half of summer.

The fertility of one adult female can reach 60-80 eggs, which she lays directly in containers with cereals, cookies, dried fruits or other suitable products.

After 10-15 days, larvae emerge and immediately begin destroying food supplies.

Grinder larva.

Depending on temperature conditions, the bread borer can spend from 1 to 5 months in the larval stage. All this time the larva feeds, grows and goes through 4-5 molts. After the larva has stored enough nutrients, it pupates.

The emergence of the imago from the pupa occurs approximately on the 12-18th day. An emerging adult grain borer can live from two weeks to two months, depending on external conditions.

The full development cycle of insects of this species takes from 70 to 200 days.

Why do bugs appear?

First, let's figure out where beetles come from, because they can often be found in kitchens where perfect order reigns. Insects enter the house through open windows and cracks in them. They can also be brought into the house along with contaminated products (for example, low-quality cereals).

For their habitat, beetles choose places with a large amount of easily accessible food; they often settle in dry trees. Poorly closed bags of cereals and flour attract them like a magnet. Pests will not refuse pasta, nuts, and dried fruits. They attack spices, sweeteners, and can settle in teas and coffee.

Although beetles do not carry diseases, they make life very difficult for the owners of the house in which they live

It is important to detect the presence of insects in time, otherwise they will scatter to other rooms. This is especially true if you eat outside of the kitchen and have a habit of accumulating dirty dishes (cups by the bed also count)

Delay in this case is fatal: bugs can be found among fabrics, papers, and furniture.

Habitat of bread grinders

Initially, this type of beetle lived exclusively within the Palaearctic, but over time it spread and adapted to life almost everywhere. The bread grinder can be found even in the harsh climate of northern latitudes, where insects have settled near people. The favorite habitats of grinders were and remain:

• food warehouses;
• bakeries;
• bakeries;

• the shops;
• warehouses with finished products;
• residential buildings and premises.

Basic methods of struggle

Agrotechnical

• alternate different crops on the site in the correct order. Plant related species as far apart as possible to prevent the spread of harmful insects.
• water as often as possible, since many pests do not like humidity.
• increase the durability and health of plants with proper care and the introduction of necessary nutrients - organic and mineral.
• After harvesting, remove all plant debris and burn it to destroy pests that have settled in for the winter.
• Autumn digging of the soil removes many harmful insects waiting out the winter in the soil.

Mechanical

It consists of using catching belts, manually removing spider nests, clutches of eggs, larvae and adult insects.

Chemical

Application of various insecticides, acaricides, fungicides. A properly selected drug can completely destroy the entire pest population. You should carefully read the instructions to prepare the desired concentration of the solution. A weak solution will not work, but a strong one can damage the plants, causing burns and deteriorating the quality of the fruit.

It is equally important to apply the product evenly to all parts of the plants, especially when using contact insecticides

Biological

Includes the attraction of natural enemies of pests, the use of preparations of biological origin, the use of herbal decoctions and infusions.

How to get rid of bread grinders

To completely get rid of bread grinders, you need to put in a lot of effort. Only an integrated approach and the following actions will help you cope with the pest:

1. All products infected with the pest should be thrown into the trash, and the containers in which they were stored should be soaked in soapy water and rinsed thoroughly.

   Bread grinder in stock.

2. All surfaces must be treated with a liquid insecticide or one of the disinfecting folk remedies.
3. Eliminate all cracks in the floor and walls.
4. Always use mosquito nets on windows in summer.
5. All products purchased after processing should be stored exclusively in glass or plastic containers with a tight-fitting lid.

Preventive measures

There are a number of simple measures that can help prevent the appearance of a bread grinder in your home:

• if the quality of the purchased cereals is in doubt, they need to be dried in the oven for 8-10 minutes. They should be stored in jars with well-closing lids;
• It is advisable to store containers with cereals on shelves where sunlight penetrates - in case of infection, it inhibits the development of pest eggs;
• you need to pour cereal into jars only after a thorough inspection;
• It is important to keep the kitchen clean and periodically clean out the cabinets;
• Pests are well repelled by cloves of garlic or salt placed in a rag bag, which are placed in jars or bags of cereal. In addition, bay leaves can be laid out on the shelves, the smell of which grinders cannot stand;
• You should not buy excessive amounts of flour and cereals for future use;
• nuts, dried fruits and bread are best stored in the refrigerator;
• When storing bulk products in fabric bags, they should first be washed in a concentrated soda solution.

Maliciousness

In the grain borer, both the beetle and the larva feed intensively.

During development, the larva of one generation destroys about 30% of the dry matter of the wheat grain. A beetle can destroy an amount of grain equal to its body weight.

As a result of the feeding of larvae or beetles, only a thin, gnawed shell remains from the grain. Larvae and beetles excrete very large amounts of excrement.

When the larva develops inside the grain, it pushes its excrement with particles of starchy endosperm onto the surface of the grain through the entrance hole.

Thus, with severe infection, a large amount of excrement, the so-called mucheli, accumulates in the grain mass, which has a honey-mouldy smell, characteristic of infection with the grain borer.

Damages whole dry grains of all cereal grains, rice, sorghum, buckwheat, corn, barley, peanuts, various cereals, as well as crackers.

What are the dangers for humans and what will happen if you eat them?

All this can enter the human body. Heat treatment of products is not enough to protect people from the harmful effects of this garbage.

The human body can react to the consumption of contaminated products with an allergic reaction, a reaction of rejection of toxic substances.

Important! The beetle larvae are so small that they may not be immediately noticed. Therefore, it is better not to use contaminated cereals for food, but to burn them

Useful video

Good afternoon dear friends! Last year, my good friends invited me to shop at the wholesale agricultural market. You can buy cereals and flour there only in bags. The selection of products amazed me; you can find everything you want. I was interested in: steamed rice, buckwheat, millet. Having taken everything we needed, we arrived home. And then an unpleasant surprise awaited my wife and I. When we opened the bag of rice, we found small bugs. And it turned out that they were not only there, but also in the others.

To avoid contaminating the food stored at home, we had to take everything out and sanitize the kitchen. In this article you will learn: a bug in the croup - how to get rid of it, the main methods of control, which folk method to use and what preventive measures should be taken.

Notes

1. ↑ Striganova B. R., Zakharov A. A. Five-language dictionary of animal names: Insects (Latin-Russian-English-German-French) / . - M.: RUSSO, 2000. - P. 126. - 1060 copies. — ISBN 5-88721-162-8.
2. ↑ 1 2
3. ↑ Ganiev M. M., Nedorezkov V. D., Sharipov Kh. G. Pests and diseases of grain and grain products during storage. - M.: KolosS, 2009. - 208 p.
4. ↑ Volkov S.M., Zimin L.S., Rudenko D.K., Tupenevich S.M. Album of pests and diseases of agricultural crops in the non-chernozem zone of the European part of the USSR. - Moscow-Leningrad: State Publishing House of Agricultural Literature, 1955. - 488 p.
5. ↑ 1 2 3 Sokolov E.A. Pests of stocks, their quarantine significance and control measures. , Orenburg: Printing House Dimur, 2004. , 104 p., ill.: 28 p.
6. ↑ Christopher G. Majka, "The Derodontidae, Dermestidae, Bostrichidae, and Anobiidae of the Maritime Provinces of Canada (Coleoptera: Bostrichiformia)", Zootaxa, no 1573, 3 September 2007, p. 1-38
7. ↑ 1 2 Rumyantsev, P.D. Barn pests and measures to combat them / Rumyantsev P.D.M.: Zagotizdat, 1940. - 320 p.
8. ↑ 1 2 Ber V.G. Insects - pests of botanical collections and the fight against them. - Leningrad: Science, Leningrad branch, 1971. - 80 p.
9. ↑ 1 2 3 Goryainov A. A. Barn pests and their control. - Moscow: publishing house New Agronomist, 1924. - 120 p.
10. ↑ (English). Retrieved July 8, 2011. May 20, 2012.
11. ↑ 1 2 Volkov S. M., Zimin L. S., Rudenko D. K., Tupenevich S. M. Album of pests and diseases of agricultural crops in the non-chernozem zone of the European part of the USSR. - Moscow-Leningrad: State Publishing House of Agricultural Literature, 1955. - 488 p.
12. ↑ Zakladnoy G. A., Sokolov E. A., Kogteva E. F., Chirkov A. M. A guide to pests of grain stocks and space as a means of combating them. - M.: Publishing house MGOU, 2003. - 108 p.
13. ↑ Bey-Bienko G. Ya., Bogdanov-Katkov N. N., Falkenshtein B Yu. et al. Agricultural entomology. Pests of agricultural crops and measures to combat them. Second, revised and expanded edition. - Moscow-Leningrad: Ogiz Selkhozgiz, 1949. - 764 p.
14. ↑ 1 2 Feydengold V.B., Alekseeva L.V., Zakladnoy G.A. and others. Measures to combat grain losses during procurement, post-harvest processing and storage at elevators and grain receiving enterprises. – M.: DeLi print, 2007. – 320 p.

This page was last edited on June 11, 2016 at 5:18 pm.

Risk area

Insect larvae require food. Some homes have more of it due to risk factors.

• Living a long-haired animal in the house. The wool that remains everywhere is an excellent breeding ground.
• Availability of book collections. Then you will have to take care of a safe binding for your treasures.
• The house is decorated with stuffed animals and birds. They will 100% be a hotbed for the spread of parasites.
• The cabinets are full of furs. If the bugs have not yet made themselves felt, it means that the house is damp and cool, the eggs are simply developing slowly.