Red Flour Beetle
Tribolium castaneum
A small reddish-brown beetle that infests flour, cake mixes, cereals and other milled products, often leaving them grey and smelly.
- Size
- 3–4 mm
- Colour
- Reddish-brown
- Breeds in
- Flour and milled products
- Snout
- No (weevils have one)
Questions about the Red Flour Beetle
How to identify a Red Flour Beetle
Identification
- About 3–4 mm, flattened, reddish-brown and shiny.
- No snout (unlike weevils).
- Larvae are slender, cream to yellow worms.
Where it lives
- Flour, baking mixes, cereals, crackers, spices and pet food.
- Dust and crumbs in shelf corners.
Behaviour
- Cannot attack whole, undamaged grain; feeds on milled products and broken grain.
- Heavy infestations give food a sharp, unpleasant smell.
Why it matters
One of the commonest causes of "small brown bugs in the pantry". See small brown bugs in my pantry.
Commonly confused with
More questions about pantry pests
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Pantry pest guides
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Pantry Pests by location
More about pantry pests
Pantry Pests
Small moths, weevils and beetles that infest flour, rice, cereals, nuts, dried fruit, spices and pet food. They usually arrive already inside a product and spread to other packets in the pantry.
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Sources & further reading
- CSIRO — insect and pest research — CSIRO
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