DRUGSTOREBEETLE CONTROL

    This article is about DRUGSTOREBEETLE control.
It will explain why they are a pest and what
needs to be done for controlling infestations.
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   Drugstorebeetles are a small insect about 1/10th
of an inch long and brown in color. It can fly in the
adult stage and is attracted to light. They are oval
in shape and closely resemble a cigarette beetle.
However, there are two differences which a trained
eye will note: the antennae have a distinct three
segmented club structure compared to the cigarette
beetles serrated antenna and the wings of the
drugstorebeetle have deep grooves or pits where
the cigarette beetle has none. Though both beetles
will infest many of the same foods, drugstorebeetles
can and will eat from a much larger list. If you
have drugstorebeetles in your home, you will have
to do several things to both remove the active
infestation and stop any eggs present from being
able to complete their life cycle which would
effectively cause a reinfestation!
   Drugstorebeetles are found throughout most of
the world. Though their name implies that maybe
they are more of a problem for pharmacies, in
fact, homes are the most common structure where
they can be found. Drugstorebeetles hatch from
eggs which are generally laid on food stuff
the larva will like to eat. Once hatched, the
larva will start to eat and will do so for
3-5 months. It was once thought they mainly
liked flour because they are such a common
pest found in bread. However, careful research
during the twentieth century taught us that
drugstorebeetles can live on just about anything
found in the home. The list includes flour but
also has anything meal based, any breakfast food,
condiments and spices, coffee, any type of bean,
rodenticide and other poison baits used for
rodents, books, fabric, wood, furniture and 
wall paper. Their diet has been found to be so
large that one entomologist was heard saying
"they will eat anything except cast iron".
   Once the eggs have fed enough to derive the
nutrition they need to become adults, they will
spin a cocoon and undergo metamorphosis. This
will take 2-4 weeks and once complete the adult
will emerge to mate and lay eggs. Since adults
fly they will look for adequate food on which
to lay eggs in case prime food stuff has been
removed. It is for this reason alone that controlling
drugstorebeetles can be a tiresome task. Most
cycles take about 6 months to complete but in warm
climates like the south three cycles can be
completed in one year. In order to break the cycle
once and for all, you will have to do three
key things: 1) Remove or treat any contaminated food or 
other items where larva or adults have been found 2) 
Treat such areas to insure hatching larva are not
able to survive by eating something other than
the contaminated food stuff found and 3) Set
out Pheromone traps to catch reproduction minded
adults before they are able to mate and lay
eggs in some other part of the home.
   The first part of getting this pest under
control is the need to identify the central food
or item they are eating. Most adults will emerge
from cocoons which are located very close to where
the larva fed. If you are finding adults in the
pantry then you most likely have some type of 
cereal, spice, flour, cookie, grain, bean or some
other item with active larva and/or adults. The
best approach is to remove everything from the
cabinets where the activity has been noted. The
good news in this case is that the infestation
may be limited to just these items. As you remove
boxes and containers, be sure to inspect them
carefully for white grub like larva, adults and
empty cocoons which is where the adults are
emerging. Anything suspect should be thrown out;
boxes which you don't want to throw away but
are not sure or not are infested should be stored
in a plastic bag. In the coming weeks if you
are to use this item you can then inspect the bag
to see if there are any sign in the plastic bag
which alerts you to that item being contaminated.
Once everything is removed you should treat the
empty cabinet with PT-MICROCARE. This is a 
unique Pyrethrin based aerosol which labeled for
such use without hazard to anything being stored
there. The aerosol is actually a microencapsulated
formulation which means the Pyrethrin will be
released over a few weeks thus providing a long
residual that is much needed. The aerosol is
easy to use, comes with a thin straw applicator
enabling one to apply it accurately to cracks
and crevices and has no odor. Once all the cabinets
are treated you can let it dry for an hour and
then place everything away. This treatment is needed
if you want to break the cycle of this pest since
eggs and pupa cannot be killed. This means there
will be eggs and pupa hatching inside the cabinet
over the next few weeks and when they do, the
residual from the treatment will kill them off.
   If you are finding the beetles in furniture,
fabric, carpet, books or other inanimate objects 
you don't want to throw away, go ahead and treat
them directly with the PT-Microcare. Do this
by lightly misting anything which is suspected of
having adults or larva. Books can be a real problem
and generally need to be opened to some degree
if you want to insure proper coverage and treatment.
If you have a large book case full of books, you 
have no choice but to remove all of them. Once
empty, treat the shelves first with the PT-Microcare,
then the books and then you can restock the
books without risk.
   If you have larger areas to treat - particularly
whole houses - you will be better off getting some
of our concentrate using CYFLUTHRIN as the active
ingredient for spraying. This product is odorless,
mixes with water and is applied with a PUMP SPRAYER.
Treat over furniture, bedding, carpets and just
about anyplace these beetles have been found.
Cyfluthrin is unique in that is both odorless and
non-staining. It too is encapsulated so you will
only have to apply it every 2 months. It will easily
kill off larva as they hatch along with adults which
choose to land on it. Since it is mixed with water
you may have to use some of the PT-Microcare still
if you have sensitive areas to treat which cannot
get wet like books. Another product which may be
needed is PT-PI. This is another aerosol which works
for a very short time but is designed to be applied
in the open air. You are effectively fogging
when you use this form which may be needed if
you have seen a lot of adults flying around parts
of the home. Fog each night before going to sleep
or during the day when you are leaving for a few
hours. It only takes 15-30 seconds to treat and
by killing off any adults which have found their
way into treated rooms you will be killing off
potential egg-laying females which would be 
starting new infestations at new locations of the
home.
   Now that you have removed contaminated food
stuff and/or treated inanimate objects on which
the larva were feeding, you need to do the third
step. This is the placement of pheromone traps
in any room where you have seen activity.
DRUGSTORE BEETLE TRAPS rely on strong pheromones
to attract adults to a sticky glue which will
catch them before they are able to mate and
lay eggs. If you have a lot of young foraging
stages, get the combo type trap knowned as the
XLURE TRAP. It combines both a pheromone and
a food lure which does a better overall.
The traps should be placed in any
room where activity has been noted. It is 
not unusual to have several of these traps
deployed in many rooms of the home. Though
kitchen, pantry and cabinets may be the main
areas for placement, be sure to inspect around
any window in the home. Since drugstore beetles
are attracted to light they will tend to 
accumulate on window sills of any window which
is closest to where they are most active.
If this is happening be sure to locate traps
by any such window. The traps will readily catch
adults thus preventing them from mating and laying
eggs. Be sure to inspect the traps at least once
a week to insure they do not fill up and stop
catching beetles and change them as soon as they
do. Keeping a fresh set up of traps is imperative
if you want to catch all potential reproducing
adults and end the cycle. In most cases the 
first part of the treatment will remove the
contaminated food stuff, the spray treatments
will break the cycle by killing off hatching
larva and the pheromone traps will help to
collect the reproducing adults which in turn
will put a cease to the cycle. A good house
cleaning followed by a good treatment will
knock most of the population out and properly
placed traps will insure there are no future
outbreaks. Expect to have the situation under
control in a couple of months but if you are
continually finding adults be sure to keep the
traps out and spend some more time looking for
the food source. Remember, without a good food
source the beetle will not be able to continue
it's cycle so if you are still seeing adults
there is something the larva have found on which
to feed and whatever this is needs to be removed
or treated to break the cycle once and for all.
   Drugstore beetles are a pest which can be tough
to control because they fly. If you have found
some in your home you will have to seek the main
food supply and remove or treat it using the 
PT-Microcare and/or Cyfluthrin. If you have adults
flying around the home every day or two use some
of the PT-PI to fog air spaces insuring these
flying adults will not be able to relocate to
another part of the home and start a new population.
Be sure to set out Pheromone traps in any room
where you have seen activity so that reproducing
adults can be intercepted before they are able
to start laying eggs on books, fabric or furniture
in an attempt to get colonized in new parts of the
home.

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