Pantry Pests in Tennessee

Pantry pests ride in on groceries. If it is in the food, throw the food. Then we treat the cabinet cracks. Tap the bug you pulled out of the bag.

Tap the one that looks like what you see

Cigarette Beetles

Oval, red-yellow-brown, head tucked down so they look humpbacked. Named for tobacco, but they eat spices, grains, and dry goods.

Drugstore Beetles

Named because they used to eat pharmacy stock. They also eat flour, spices, seeds, pet food, wool, leather, and books. Head tucked, grooved…

Granary Weevils

Brownish-red snout beetles. Pitted head. They play dead when disturbed. Wings present but they do not fly.

Indian Meal Moths

The pantry moth. Two-tone wings — pale front, copper back. They fly a zigzag across a kitchen.

Merchant Grain Beetles

Flat, narrow, brown beetles with six saw-like teeth on each side of the thorax. They slide into packaged goods.

Rice Weevils

Red-brown to black with four pale spots on the wings. The snout is about a third of the body. They fly. Larvae eat grain from the inside.

Sawtooth Beetles

Long, flat, brown. Rows of saw teeth on the first segment behind the head. Larvae are yellowish and worm-like.

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