Five Questions to Ask to Help Find Stored Product Pests in Homes

How do pest management professionals resolve stored product pest issues in residential homes? Primarily by finding and disposing of the source. Specifically, I am referring to frequently encountered stored product pests such as cigarette beetles, drugstore beetles and Indian meal moths. Here are five questions to ask when searching for these pests; all of which are based on real situations I have encountered at homes.

1. Are there old or seldom used food items stored in the pantry?

This is the most obvious source for stored product pests. Many grain, nut or fruit-based products are potential food sources for these pests. Often, the infested item is something that is not frequently used. I have seen anything from seasoning mixes, bread crumbs to hot chocolate mix as the root of the pest problem. Also, just because a box is unopened doesn’t mean that it is not infested. The cardboard and plastic bags on many items do very little to slow down stored product pests. I recall finding moth larvae in a sleeve of crackers inside an unopened box. I recommend opening boxes and pulling the bags out to exam them for possible activity. If there is no activity, the bag can be slid back into the box and left in the pantry for later use.

2. Is there pet food, pet treats or birdseed in the home?

Pet food is another likely source. The typical scenario occurs when people put pet food in a plastic bin but never let it get completely empty. New food is dumped on top of a little bit of old food at the bottom of the bin. The old food becomes the reservoir that continues to infest any new food which may be added. Also, consider any pet treats as a source. I remember searching a home’s pantry for a long time for drugstore beetles. I knew there had to be a source but could not find it during my inspection. Thankfully, the technician who went out after me discovered some dog treats full of beetles in a different room. In another instance, I asked a customer, over the phone, if they had any deer corn from the past hunting season. It just so happened that a partial bag was sitting in the garage just outside the kitchen door. The corn was the source and was thrown away. Feeding wild birds is often seasonal. What about a partial bag of birdseed that is being saved for next fall?

3. Are there heat packs made with rice, wheat or flax seeds?

In a few situations, I have had clients complain about beetles in the bathroom or bedroom where there should not usually be a food source. One time, I found a neck wrap filled with wheat on the top shelf of a bathroom closet. Another woman had rice packs stored in a drawer to heat up and use as heating pads. One of the hardest situations I remember was due to a small flax seed pillow in a nightstand drawer. The client found this one after I had searched in vain on my first trip. This is an important question to ask the homeowner because they may know where they have a heating pack stored that you may not easily find. Also, by talking to clients about potential sources, they may discover the source for you because they now know what to look for.

4. Have rodenticides been used in the home in the past?

Old rodent bait is a good source for beetles because rodenticide has no effect on insect pests. For example, a homeowner called us concerned about beetles at a lake house. While at the house, our inspector called the homeowner to see if they could help him figure out what was happening. He found out the homeowner had put rodenticide on top of the tall piers elevating the home. These beetles had infested this bait and were making their way between the floorboards into the house. Very recently, I asked a client if we had done any rodent baiting for her in the past. She showed me a bait station that I was not aware of and sure enough our bait was the source of the infestation.

5. Do they have septic treatment granules stored in the home?

Finally, one of the unique situations I have seen involved beetles infesting a common septic treatment product. This product consists of granules that must be made from some type of grain. I have seen this occur multiple times in rural situations where people have individual septic systems. My first discovery occurred after searching for about an hour in a home outside of town where the homeowners were seeing beetles in a bathroom. When I moved the septic treatment product, I noticed the perfect outline of the bottom of the box was still on the shelf from all the dust created by beetles chewing up the product. Another favorite story of mine is when I was driving in the country for an inspection, a homeowner flagged me down and asked if I would stop back by their house when I finished my current appointment. Once again, they were seeing beetles in the bathroom. When I stopped by their house, we talked about all the possible sources, and they said that none of them applied until I mentioned the septic treatment product. At this point, he opened the bathroom cabinet to find a severely infested box of the exact product I mentioned. He threw away the product and no service was sold at that time, but I think we will be the first company he calls for his next pest issue.

FINAL THOUGHTS.

There are of course other sources and situations not discussed in this article, and I am sure many of you could add a question or two from your own experiences. However, these five questions have served me well in the discovery of stored products issues in homes, and I believe they can be of value to pest technicians who find themselves in similar situations.

The author is the safety, technical and training manager for Bill Clark Pest Control, Beaumont, Texas. He holds a bachelor’s degree and Ph.D. in entomology from Texas A&M University and has 22 years of experience in the pest management.