Sunday, August 7, 2011

I found some interesting information today...

Today is day 25......I had this wild itch to see if I could find anything on Wikipedia - when I put in "Peanut Weevil" (that's what I told it was) no hits came up.  Then I decided to just Google Weevil and of course it did come up! After clicking on a few pages, I found this website that did a really good job of explaining what they are - and the correct term is "the confused beetle" which I found a bit amusing :)  here's the link:  http://www.pantrypest.com/confusedflour.htm.  Here is the info in a nutshell:


Confused Flour Beetle and Red Flour Beetle

Confused Flour Beetle

confused flour beetle


The confused flour beetle and the red flour beetle are very similar in appearance and can be most easily distinguished by examining the antennae:
the antennae of the red flour beetle end abruptly in a three-segmented club, while the confused flour beetle's antennae gradually enlarge towards the tip, ending in a four-segmented club.
The red flour beetle is primarily a pest in southern states. The adults are strong fliers
The confused flour beetle is primarily a pest in northern states. The adults do not fly.
Adult beetles of these two species have shiny, reddish brown bodies that are about 1/7 inch long, flattened, and oval.
The small size of the confused flour beetle enables it to work its way inside many sealed containers.
These beetles have a very wide food range including cereals, grains, spices, grain products, shelled nuts, dried fruit, chocolate, drugs, peas, beans and other similar materials. The biologies of these two species are very similar; their average life span is about 1 year, but some have been known to live almost 4 years.
The females lay their small, white eggs loosely in flour or other food material.
The eggs, which are coated with a sticky secretion, become covered with flour or meal and readily adhere to the sides of sacks, boxes, and other containers.
They hatch into small worm-like larvae that are slender, cylindrical in appearance. When fully grown, the larva is3/16 inch long and white, tinged with yellow.
At this stage, it transforms into a small pupa. At first white, the pupa gradually changes to yellow and then brown, and shortly afterward transforms into a beetle.
In summer, the period from egg to adult averages about 6 weeks.

Now the red flour beetle flies - so we know that these are the confused flour beetle!  


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