Beetle Pests of Stored Products

Many beetle species eat stored human and animal foods, household products, and other items found in homes and other buildings. Some of these species feed directly on the food and other items we store and use while many more feed on the fungus and mold that grows on these items after they have either spoiled or been stored indoors for a long time. Only a few species cause serious economic damage and most are just considered a nuisance. However, it is always important to identify which species is present since that will determine how important control measures are and what items need to be treated or inspected further.

Diagnostic Tools

This site contains three related tools to help diagnose beetle pests of stored products in the continental United States and Canada.

First, an image gallery and species pages of all common stored product beetle species in the area.

Second, a dichotomous identification key is available for species diagnosis. This uses the a series of nested "A or B" choices which will eventually narrow down to a single species.

Third, a multi-entry key is also available. This allows the user to choose their own diagnostic characters to examine for their pest.