Cigarette beetle

Classification

Secondary pest; Grain feeder
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Anobiidae
Acronym: LSE

Description

• Adults are small (2 to 3.5 mm long), reddish brown and oval shaped.
• Larvae are white and covered in numerous long hairs.
• As larvae mature, they become crescent-shaped and their mobility decreases.

Similar species

• Drugstore beetle (Stegobium paniceum) – Unlike the cigarette beetle, the drugstore beetle has striae on the elytra and does not have serrate antennae.

Commodities affected

• Tobacco, seeds, spices, drugs, grains, cereal products
• Dried leaves, furniture, pepper, ginger, rhubarb, dried insects, dried fish, dried meat, fish meal, rice, figs, yeast and a wide variety of other dried products

Signs of infestation

• Products contaminated with larval cocoons, frass (excrement), dead adult beetles

Damage

• Larvae feed directly on commodity and contaminate it with frass (excrement).
• Larvae can damage package by burrowing.

How to control

• Control grain insect pests

Geographic range

• Is found worldwide, but does better in subtropical and tropical regions than in temperate regions
• Is found across Canada, but can only survive winter in heated buildings

Life history

• Adults are short lived (25 days) and do not feed on commodity, but they may cause damage by chewing on surrounding structures.