Most of us have opened an ancient bag of white flour from the back of our pantry and discovered something horrific — bugs, otherwise knows as flour weevils. These little bugs are actually in the beetle family and are specifically attracted to flour, except — health food folks, rejoice — whole wheat flour. If you aren't down to make the switch, there's some bad news: It's very difficult weevils from invading your flour because these bugs are prevalent.
It starts at the mill, so you have little hope of preventing as infestation. Some of the names that these insects are known by include snout beetles, mealworm beetles, and red flour beetles. One of the most common varieties is the red flour beetle, which has a reddish brown color to it.
It is of Indo-Australian origin, but is now found worldwide. Despite minor variations in the species, they exhibit similar behavior patterns and are a common infestation problem throughout all the major agricultural grain industries. Boll weevils are a close cousin to flour bugs and a major pest in cotton production as well. Removing flour bugs from a pantry once discovered is possible if one applies thorough cleaning methods to the task.
But there are a few tried and true ways to prevent flour weevil infestations. The first is to store your flour correctly : in an air-tight, sealed container instead of a paper bag. That prevents bugs from laying eggs in your stash, but that doesn't help if the bugs infested the flour at the mill or grocery store. If you're really feeling strongly about it, you can freeze your flour for about a week before using it.
That'll kill any bugs that might be living in it—and storing flour in the freezer is actually a good way to keep it fresh for as long as possible. If you can't successfully prevent flour weevils from getting into your pantry, you'll unfortunately have to dump everything. Maize weevil larvae are soft, white grubs with no legs.
Pupae, too, are similar to adults with long snouts, but they are white. And like the rice weevil, the maize weevil can fly. Its coloring is similar to the rice and maize weevils: reddish brown to black. Its larvae soft, white grubs without legs and white pupae are similar to those of the rice and maize weevil.
This weevil cannot fly, so will be found close to the areas it infests. The adults can live up to 8 weeks, during which time the female can lay up to eggs. Partly because of its long life and partly because of its ability to fly, the rice weevil is considered to be the most destructive, but all three weevils can cause extensive damage to stored foods. When they infest grain that is stored in bins and remains undisturbed, they can completely destroy the food.
In the home, weevils can be brought in on packaged foods or they can come in from outside. Once inside, a population can grow and expand to food items stored nearby if the pests are not controlled. Store grains and other weevil-tempting foods in dry areas, and always throw out any food where you find weevils.
Clear any cupboards where you've found weevils and clean thoroughly before storing food there again, using a vacuum to be sure you've gotten all larvae. You should avoid using chemical treatments to get rid of weevils because most are not safe to use around food. Mutis, Ana et al.
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