Sawtoothed Grain Beetle (Oryzaephilus surinamensis)

The saw-toothed grain beetle is a common stored-products pest throughout the world in homes, grocery stores, food warehouses, and grain storage facilities. These beetles feed on a variety of stored products including flour, cereals, bread, pasta, dried fruits, sugar, nuts, drugs, dried meat and tobacco.

Identification:
Dark brown in colour and about 2.5 - 3.5 mm in length. Slender and flattened in appearance with six sawtoothed projections on each side of the thorax. Usually found in grain and milled grain products. A closely related species, Mercator Beetle (Oryzaephilus mercator), is also important and is often mistaken for the saw-toothed grain beetle.

Biology:
The female adult lays her eggs individually or in small batches in and around a food supply. A female can lay 45 to 285 eggs per year. Larvae emerge from the eggs in 3 to 10 days, and usually mature into adults within 50 days. Adult females live from 6 to 10 months, but can live up to 3 years if conditions are ideal. Several generations can be produced each year due to the shorter time required for life cycle development in a controlled environment or during the summer months.

Control:
Infestations in domestic or food storage situations can usually be traced back to a cereal source. Since these beetles can infest so many types of grain products, inspect thoroughly. There may be several infested products, discard any food that is infested. Infested areas should be thoroughly vacuumed paying particular attention to cracks and crevices, contents of the vacuum cleaner should be disposed of in an outside bin. Store new food products in sealed glass or plastic containers. Proper ventilation also is necessary to reduce humid environments. After cleaning, treat the infested areas using a residual insecticide labeled for crawling insect to ensure that all adult beetles and larvae have been killed.

Products to control Sawtoothed Grain Beetle: