Confused Flour Beetle

Key Features

Confused Flour Beetles (Tribolium confusum) are small oblong shaped insects that are reddish-brown in colour, and are about 3 -4 mm in length, The adults are relatively long lived, living for as much as three years. Flour beetles are not known to spread disease and do not feed on or damage the structure of a home or furniture

Flour Beetles are an important pest of stored products such as flour, spices, milk powders, and can infest grain stores where the grain has been damaged. Flour beetles cannot attack intact grain, rather they attack broken grains.

Biology

The lifecycle (egg to adult) normally takes between 40 and 90 days, but is temperature dependent.

Distribution

The confused flour beetle, originally of African origin, has a different distribution (from the rust-red flour beetle in that it occurs worldwide in cooler climates. In the United States it is more abundant in the northern states (Smith and Whitman).

Significance

Causes damage to finished products, causes an unpleasant taint to foodstuffs, and can contaminate large volumes of food.

Control

The first step in managing an infestation is to find and remove the source of the infestation (Koehler 2003). Flour beetles can feed and survive on even the smallest bits of grain, so cleaning is a crucial part of controlling these pests. In large-scale infestations, fumigation (the treatment of the infested material via the application of toxic gas) may be appropriate.