Click on the Insect Name Below to Learn More
Almond Moth (Ephestia
cautella)
This
moth looks like a dirty or hazy version of an Indianmeal Moth or a different
colored Mediterranean Flour Moth. It has a 14 - 20 mm wing span.
Food: This
moth will feed on most dried food goods as
as well as nuts, seeds and grains of all types and dried fruit.
Life Cycle: Females lay about
114 eggs in and around potential food sources. The eggs hatch in 4 to 8 days.
The larval period lasts about 64 days depending on the environment. The entire
life cycle occurs in ~ 82 days.
Trap Use and Placement: The male Almond Moth is
extremely attracted to the pheromone Bullet Lures. No Survivor traps are hung in
areas where food sources are stored. Traps can be hung along a wall or placed on
shelves or within drawers.
Angoumois Grain Moth (Sitotroga
cerealella)
This
cosmopolitan moth was first discovered eating sound grains in the French
province Angoumois, giving it, it's name. Much different than most other stored
food moths because it is an internal feeder of grain kernels. The larvae will
bore a hole into the grain and seal up the hoe with a silken web. The tips of
the wings have a feathered appearance.
Food: Prefers
damp grain, whole sound kernels of barley, rye, corn, oats, wheat, rice and
whole grain seeds.
Life Cycle: Females lay 40 to
300 eggs in and around whole grains and seeds. It will continue to remain active
at relatively low temperatures.
Trap Use and Placement: The male Angoumois Moth is
extremely attracted to the pheromone Bullet Lures. No Survivor traps are hung in
areas where food sources are stored. Traps can be hung along a wall or placed on
shelves or within drawers.

Black Carpet Beetle ( Attagenus spp.)
The
adult is 2.8 - 5 mm in length. It is mostly dark brown to black in color. The
larvae is long and carrot shaped with a tuft of hairs emerging from the rear
end.
Food: The larvae of this pest will feed upon a great
variety of animal and plant products, such as carpets, felt, woolen goods,
skins, furs, stuffed animals, leather book bindings, feathers, horns, hair,
silk, cattle hair, and insect meal. Also it will attack plant products such as
seeds and grains, corn and cayenne peppers. Specifically in museums, it will
attack insect and ethnographic collections.
Life Cycle: The female Black Carpet Beetle will lay 42 - 114 eggs
near a possible food source. The larval stage is the destructive stage. The
period from egg to adult will last about 1 year, possibly more depending on
environment.
Trap Use and Placement: Pheromone lures are available
for this pest to attract the male of the species. They are good fliers, so any
hanging sticky trap with a fresh pheromone lure will work. Hang the traps so
that you can easily inspect them. Outdoor species are attracted to light.
CASE-MAKING CLOTHES MOTH
(Tinea pellionella)

If you have clothes moths and
it's not the Webbing Clothes Moth, chances are you have Case-making Clothes
Moths. Materials left undisturbed for some time or stored in dark places
(such as a closet, attic, or drawer) are most severely injured by these insects.
The adults are slightly smaller than the Webbing Clothes Moth. Body and wings
are colored buff to golden with a brownish tinge, except for three dark spots on
the front wings. The eyes are wider than the space between them. The brown
headed larvae will spin a silken case that it carries around with them as they
feed.
Food:
Clothing moth larvae feed on wool, hair, feathers, furs, upholstered furniture,
occasionally on dead insects, dry dead animals, animal and fish meals, milk
powders such as casein, and nearly all animal products such as bristles, dried
hair and leather. Adults do not eat.

Life Cycle: 33 - 48 days, depending on environment. Adult moths lay
100-150 eggs. The larvae is the damaging stage. They are white with brown heads
and vary in size from 1/4" when first hatched up to 1/3" when full
grown. The length of the larval period depends largely on the environmental
conditions and the quality of food.
Trap use and placement: This trap is placed on the floor indoors in closets and rooms where woolen, silk fabrics, furs, or items with feathers are stored. One trap per closet or storage room can attract and catch the male moths. This trap will act as an early warning tool to help prevent destruction of woolen items and other fabrics.
CIGARETTE BEETLE (Lasioderma serricorne)
Fruit Flies (Drosophila
spp.)
The
adult is 3 mm in length including the wings. It has bright red eyes with a tan
colored head and thorax. The abdomen in black from above and grayish on the
underside. The adults are light attracted.
Food: Rotting bananas, pineapples, tomatoes, potatoes
and numerous other fruits and vegetables. Fermenting liquids, such as wine,
cider, vinegar, beer and the liquids left behind in soda cans in re-cycling bins
and trash cans.
Life Cycle: The entire life cycle can take place in as few as
eight days.
Trap Use and Placement: Place traps near trash cans and
food storage areas.
Hide
Beetle(
Dermestes maculatus)
The adult is 5 - 10 mm in length. The dorsal side of its body is all black,
while the underside is mostly white.
Food: Hide beetle will feed on carcasses of stored skins
and hides. It can be a pest of museums, ham, cheese meats, pigs ears and other
high protein items.
Life Cycle: The female Hide Beetle will lay more than 500 eggs in
her lifetime. She will lay them individually or in batches of 20 or so. The eggs
will be laid right on the food source. Egg to adult in a minimum of 70 days.
They can live for more than 1 year. The adults can fly.
Trap Use and Placement: Stealth traps or Trapper
monitors work well for this beetle and larvae.
INDIANMEAL MOTH
(Plodia
interpunctella)
This is one of the easiest stored food insects to
identify because the adults have a colorful appearance and the larvae (which
look like yellow or green worms) leave a silken webbing trail wherever they
crawl. Newly emerged adults have bi-colored (copper and tan) wings and measure
about 1/2" from top to bottom.
Food: This
pesky moth will feed on most dried food goods as
as well as seeds and grains of all types.
Life Cycle: Females lay about
200 - 400 eggs in and around potential food sources. The eggs hatch in 6 to 10
days. The larval period lasts from 13 to 288 days depending on the environment.
The entire life cycle occurs in 5 - 40 weeks.
Trap Use and Placement: The male Indianmeal Moth is
extremely attracted to the pheromone Bullet Lures and Moth Suppression Lures. No
Survivor traps are hung in areas where food sources are stored. Traps can be
hung along a wall or placed on shelves or within drawers. Females looking to lay
eggs will be attracted to the Moth Suppression Lure.

Lesser Grain Borer & Larger Grain Borer (Rhizopertha dominica & Prostephanus truncatus)

These
beetles of the Bostrichid family are both important pests of stored grains. The
adults are very similar to each other with the Larger Grain Borer being 4mm in
length and the Lesser Grain Borer being 3mm in length. The eggs are laid loosely
in the grain or in cracks in grain. The larvae will usually bore into the grain.
The adults will also bore into the grain to feed leaving only a thin shell
behind. They are good fliers as adults.
Food: These
beetles will feed on most stored grains and have been known to damage books and
wood.
Life Cycle: Females will lay up to
500 eggs in her lifetime. She will lay them singly or in clusters from 2 - 30.
Average time from egg to adult is 58 days (Potter)
Trap Use and Placement: The
use of pheromone lures in a sticky trap should work well when placed within 15
feet of infested product. Grain probe traps directly in the grain mass will also
capture these beetles for monitoring purposes.
Mediterranean Flour Moth
(Ephestia kuehniella)
Mediterranean Flour Moths adults are
much darker than the common Indianmeal Moth and the larvae are whitish or
pinkish and leave a silken webbing trail wherever they crawl. Newly emerged
adults measure about 1/2" from top to bottom.
Food: This
moth will feed on most dried food goods including flour as as well as nuts,
seeds and grains of all types.
Life Cycle: Females lay about
116 - 678 eggs in and around potential food sources. The eggs hatch in 3 to 10
days. The larval period lasts 40 days in optimum conditions of 80 - 90 degrees
F.
Trap Use and Placement: The male MediterraneanFlour Moth
is extremely attracted to the pheromone Bullet Lures and Moth Suppression Lures.
No Survivor traps are hung in areas where food sources are stored. Traps can be
hung along a wall or placed on shelves or within drawers.

Red Flour Beetle (Tribolium
castaneum)
Confused Flour Beetle
(Tribolium confusum)
These
beetles, also called bran bugs, are common pests of flour. They may infest any
product made with grain, but they cannot infest sound (undamaged) grain. Flour
beetles require about a month to complete their life cycle. Adults may live up
to three years. The Red Flour Beetle can fly, whereas the Confused Flour Beetle
cannot.
Food:
Flour and damaged grain and many other dried foods.
Life Cycle: Females lay 2 - 3 eggs at a time into the food product that
they infest. Confused Flour Beetle females will lay eggs over an eight month
period, where Red Flour Beetle will lay eggs over a 51/2 month period. 300 - 400
total eggs are laid over their lifetime.
Trap use and placement: These beetles will rarely fly into traps. Traps must be placed on the floor indoors in pantries and storage rooms where flour or grain products are stored. One trap per closet or storage room can attract and catch the beetles. The Pantry Patrol Gel Bait acts as a food attractant and aggregation pheromone attractant for males and females. These beetles will only travel short distances to come to the traps. E.G. 5 - 10 feet.


Rice Weevil & Maize Weevil( Sitophilus oryzae & Sitophilus zeamais)
These
beetles are both important pests of whole grains and pasta. The adults are
distinguished by the the long snout (proboscis) which is used to bore holes into
grain kernels. The eggs are then laid inside the kernel and the hole is sealed
over as the ovipositor is removed. The larvae will hollow out the kernel of
grain as it grows, leaving only a thin shell. The adults are good flyers.
Food: These
beetles will feed on rye, buckwheat, table beans, corn and wheat products as
well as pasta.
Life Cycle: Females will lay up to 25
eggs per day over a 100 day period. Larvae and pupae will remain inside the
grain for up to 30 days on average.
Trap Use and Placement: The
use of the pheromone lure in combination with a food attractant in a pitfall
trap seems to work well for these pests.
Saw-Toothed Grain Beetle
(Oryzaephilus surinamensis)
Merchant Grain Beetle
(Oryzaephilus mercator)
These
beetles, which look almost identical, are common pests of stored food product.
Their flat and sleek design allow them to penetrate most types of food
packaging.
Adult: This active brown beetle
is only 1/10th of an inch (2.5mm) in length. The thorax has a distinct
saw-toothed pattern on either side. Although they have wings, they have never
been seen to fly.
Food:
Cereals, dried fruits, breakfast foods, chocolate, bran, rice, oat and many
other foodstuffs.
Life Cycle: The complete life cycle can be as short as 30 days.
Trap use and placement: Traps must be placed on the floor indoors in pantries and storage rooms where food products are stored. One trap per closet or storage room can attract and catch the beetles. The pitfall trap design works best for these strong climbing beetles.
Tobacco Moth (Ephestia
elutella)
This
cosmopolitan moth is a light grayish brown with two light bands extending across
each forewing. It is similar in size to the Mediterranean Flour Moth.
Food: This
moth will feed on tobacco, chocolate, cereals and seeds.
Life Cycle: Females lay eggs
in and around potential food sources.
Trap Use and Placement: The male Tobacco Moth is
extremely attracted to the pheromone Bullet Lures. No Survivor traps are hung in
areas where food sources are stored. Traps can be hung along a wall or placed on
shelves or within drawers.
Varied Carpet Beetle(
Anthrenus verbasci)
The
adult is 2 - 3 mm in length. The dorsal side of its body is for the most part
blackish in the center, with a variable , irregular arrangement of white,
brownish, and yellowish scales.
Food: The larvae of this pest will feed upon a great
variety of animal and plant products, such as carpets, woolen goods, skins,
furs, stuffed animals, leather book bindings, feathers, horns, whalebone, hair,
silk, fish manure, and dried silk worm pupae. Also it will attack plant products
such as rye meal, cacao, corn and red pepper. Specifically in museums, it will
attack insect and ethnographic collections.
Life Cycle: The female Varied Carpet Beetle will lay her eggs near
a possible food source. The larval stage is the destructive stage. The period
from egg to adult will last about 1 year, possibly more depending on
environment.
Trap Use and Placement: Pheromone lures are available
for this pest to attract the male of the species. They are good fliers, so any
hanging sticky trap with a fresh pheromone lure will work. Hang the traps so
that you can easily inspect them. Outdoor species are attracted to light.
WAREHOUSE BEETLE (
Trogoderma spp.)
This small, oval beetle is a common pest of many
types of artifacts. The adult is a tiny black beetle with white or lightly
colored markings on its back. The larvae are orange-brown in color and look
hairy. Warehouse beetles feed primarily on animal products, but will readily
feed on grain and cereal products. The hairs of the larvae can cause allergic
reactions in sensitive individuals especially when swallowed.
Food: This
beetle is a voracious feeder and will feed on a wide variety of items including:
seeds, dead animals, cereals, corn, corn meal, nut meats, dried vegetables and
plant material and fish meal.
Life Cycle: The life cycle from egg
to adult can be completed in 43 days, but they can stay in diapause
(hibernation) for up to two years.
Trap Use and Placement: The
male Warehouse Beetle is extremely attracted to the pheromone Bullet Lures. No
Survivor traps are hung in areas where botanicals are stored. Traps can be hung
along a wall or placed on shelves or within drawers where herbarium storage
takes place.
Webbing Clothes Moth (Tineola
bisselliella)
With
the decreased use of preventive pesticides, the incidence of museum items
damaged by the Webbing Clothes moth has increased significantly in recent years.
Items primarily affected include woolens, anything containing feathers, animal
mounts and skeletons. Woolen items injured by clothes moths have holes eaten
through them by small, white larvae. You can often find hairs falling from
animal specimens that the larvae are feeding upon. Materials left undisturbed
for some time or stored in dark places (such as a closet, attic, or drawer) are
most severely injured by these insects. The adults are small and
champagne-colored. They can often be seen running over the surface of the
infested goods when exposed to light or flying somewhat aimlessly about the
houses or closets.
Food:
Clothing moth larvae feed on wool, hair, feathers, furs, upholstered furniture,
occasionally on dead insects, dry dead animals, animal and fish meals, milk
powders such as casein, and nearly all animal products such as bristles, dried
hair and leather. Adults do not eat.
Life Cycle: Adult moths lay 100-150 eggs. The larvae is the damaging
stage. They are white and vary in size from 1/16" when first hatched up to
1/3" when full grown. The length of the larval period depends largely on
the environmental conditions and the quality of food. 
Trap use and placement: This trap is placed on the floor indoors in closets and rooms where woolen, silk fabrics, furs, or items with feathers are stored. One trap per closet or storage room can attract and catch the male moths. This trap will act as an early warning tool to help prevent destruction of woolen items and other fabrics.