5 Signs You Have Stored Product Insects in Your House

5 Signs You Have Stored Product Insects in Your House
The thought of insects infesting your food is enough to kill anyone’s appetite, but it does happen. You can easily bring infested food or pet food into your house without realising it. There are particular species that tend to infest food and they are known as stored product insects. These pests will damage packaging to get to the food then once they’re in, they’ll contaminate it and lay their eggs inside. Before you know it, you’ll have an infestation in your kitchen.

If you’ve seen something suspect in your pet’s food, or inside a bag of rice or flour, you need to deal with it. But before you do anything, you need to know if you do actually have a problem with stored product insects. Could you spot the signs?

First things first: Know your stored product pests
Where will you find them?
You’ll find them in infested foods, normally in the kitchen or anywhere that’s close to a food source.
What are the most common stored product insects found in houses?
Flour beetles: Their name is a giveaway, they love to feed on and breed in flour. They are also fond of rice, oats, and cereals.
Saw toothed grain beetles: This pest loves cereals, dried fruits, and wheat products like crackers.
Indian meal moth larvae: They will feast on cereals and dried fruits, but you’ll also find them in dried herbs, spices, dry dog food, and bird seed.
5 signs you have stored product insects in your house
So now you know a bit about the pests you should potentially be looking for, here are the tell-tale signs that they are present in your home.
Food and food packaging is damaged: Stored product pests will chew through food packaging to feast on what’s inside and lay their eggs.
Holes in grains: If there are tell-tale holes in grains like rice, this could be where adult insects have emerged from their larvae and tunnelled their way out.
Grains appear mouldy: Stored product insect activity can cause grains to become warm which can lead to mould forming.
You see insect tracks: Can you see dusty tracks next to that big bag of flour? This could be a sign that stored product insects have had their fill of flour and they’ve moved onto their next target food source.
Stored foods appeared discoloured: Stored product insects can contaminate and cause discolouration of food products with their waste.
Suspect you have stored product insects in your house?
Contego’s highly-trained technicians can identify the species that’s causing the issue and recommend the most effective treatment for your situation.
Protect your family and your pets from pests with help from the experts.