Flour Beetle Control: How To Get Rid of Flour Beetles

This page is a general flour beetle control guide. Using the products and methods suggested, you will get control of flour beetles. Follow this guide and use the recommended products, and we guarantee 100% control over flour beetles.

It can be alarming to go into your pantry to pull out your flour only to realize it crawls with flour beetles. Flour beetles are a pantry pest and are becoming a more common problem in households, grocery stores, and commercial food packing facilities.

Since flour beetles are known to infest mills and food processing and packaging facilities, homeowners often mistakenly package food in infested packages and take it home. The flour beetle can then infest the package and food with other food items in the pantry.

Large infestations of flour beetles can potentially damage hundreds of dollars of food. If you have flour beetles crawling around in your pantry, action must be taken quickly to prevent the risk of significant damage and contamination.

In this DIY guide, we will share everything you need to control flour beetles so you can eliminate this pest properly. Follow along to learn the best product and techniques to eliminate flour beetles from your pantry effectively.

Identification

To perform the right treatment strategy, you must ensure you’re dealing with flour beetles and not some other pests. Misidentification can lead to incorrect treatment methods, costing you time and money. Keep an eye out for the traits shared below to help you identify flour beetles:

• Flour Beetle is a catch-all term for two main flour beetle species: the Confused Flour Beetle and the red flour beetle.
• Adult flour beetles measure 1/8 of an inch long and appear reddish-brown. Flour beetles don’t like to eat or lay eggs in grain but will readily eat and drop eggs in flour and cereal products.
• Both of these flour beetle species look nearly identical, and in fact, that is why one is named the “confused” flour beetle. It is because of how often they can be mistaken for the red flour beetle.
• The way to best tell these two flour beetle species apart is by looking at their antennae (with a magnifying glass). The red flour beetle antennae stop abruptly in a distinct, three-segmented club. In contrast, the confused flour beetle's antennae gets gradually larger towards the tip and ends with a four-segmented club.
• While the red flour beetle adults are exceptional fliers, the confused flour beetle doesn’t fly. Both flour beetle species have shiny, reddish-brown colored bodies and are about the same size and shape.

Use the description and image above to help you properly identify flour beetles in your home. If you need help with identification, contact a University Extension Service or call us.

Inspection

Once you have properly identified that you have flour beetles, you need to know the areas where they are infesting. During the inspection, you will focus on finding this problem "hotspots" where flour beetles are commonly found.

Where To Inspect

Since most infestations occur in pantry food products, you should start inspecting the pantry. Inspect your cabinets and shelves well. Search inside the food packaging of grains, flour, cereals, pasta, starches, spices, herbs, and pet food.

What To Look For

You’re looking for the contaminated item that started the infestation. Inspect all the areas where the food goods are stored and the places mentioned above. Search every package until you find adult flour beetles or larvae crawling inside the products. It would be best to look for cracks and crevices in your pantry for possible hiding areas. Once you have found flour beetle larvae or adults, you will apply the treatment here.

Treatment

Once you have confirmed flour beetle activity, it is time to begin treatment. Remember to read all product labels, follow the application instructions on these labels, and wear personal protective equipment (PPE) to stay safe.

To get rid of flour beetle infestations, empty your entire pantry, throw away all your stored products, conduct a detailed vacuuming, and wipe down all the shelves. Once complete, you will apply Pyrid Aerosol and Flex 10-10 to kill adult flour beetles and halt the development of eggs and larvae. Finally, placing Pro-Pest Pantry Moth and Beetle Traps to capture any grain beetles lingering around after treatment would be best.

Step 1: Preliminary Cleanup and Vacuuming

Eliminating a flour beetle infestation starts with a thorough cleanup of your pantry. Begin by throwing away all the food items in your pantry. This may sound excessive, but the odds are that if you find one infested item, there’s a good chance that more than one item is infested. It is best to take no chances, throw away everything, and start restocking your pantry from scratch after treatment.

Use a vacuum to clean inside the areas where food goods are stored. Vacuum the corners, sides, top, and bottom of pantries, shelves, cabinets, and the areas where food goods are stored. Next, take a cloth soaked in soapy water and wash the inside of the cabinets, shelves, and pantries. When vacuuming is complete, toss out the bag or clean the canister with warm, soapy water.

Use a toothpick to clear out and clean the pegs where the screws are located; these areas are notorious for holding eggs. Next, if needed, use caulking to seal and close off any cracks and crevices inside these areas to prevent the infestation from spreading.

Before applying our professional products, make sure all the cabinets, pantries, and shelves are completely empty and there are no food items inside. 

Step 2: Treat Cracks and Crevices with Pyrid Aerosol

Pyrid Aerosol is a synthetic pyrethroid insecticide used as a flushing agent and effective as a crack and crevice treatment inside pantries. Flour beetles are known to crawl in small spaces and lay eggs, so applying this will flush them out and kill them with contact.

Pyrid comes with a crack-and-crevice applicator to allow the product to treat cracks and crevices more precisely. To use, remove the white applicator from the top of the can and replace it with the red straw-tip applicator.

Shake the can and then spray along the length of the cracks and crevices of your pantry shelving in quick bursts, usually at about 1 second of spray per foot. Pyrid will flush pests out of these areas. It will not leave behind a residual but will provide an immediate knockdown after flushing invading flour beetles out.

Step 3: Apply Flex 10-10

After applying Pyrid to your cracks and crevices, apply Flex 10-10. Flex 10-10 is a pyrethroid insecticide with a residual effect of up to 30 days and will kill flour beetles long after application. 

Use Flex 10-10 as a general surface spray to spot-treat the pantry shelves. First, dilute the appropriate amount of Flex 10-10 into a handheld pump sprayer. 

Calculate the square footage of your pantry. Find the square footage by measuring the treatment areas' length and width in feet, then multiplying them together (length X width = square footage).

Mix the Flex 10-10 at a rate of 3.2 fl. oz. per gallon to treat 750 sq. ft. of surface area. For heavy infestations, use 6.4 fl. oz. per gallon.

Fill the sprayer with a half-gallon of water, add the appropriate amount of Flex 10-10, then fill the rest with water and shake the sprayer.

Apply the Flex 10-10 as a low-pressure fan spray along the back and side edges of the pantry shelving where the shelf meets the wall. Keep all people and pets away from the treated area until dry. Once the product has dried completely, you can stock your pantry again.

Step 3: Pro-Pest Pantry Moth and Beetle Traps

Pro-Pest Pantry Moth and Beetle Traps are pantry insect traps that carry pheromones impregnated in the glue to lure pests to the trap. They can be set on shelves or hung to capture many crawling or flying insects.

To use, peel off the wax paper and fold the trap into a tent shape to target any remaining Flour Beetles following the Novacide spraying.

Place the trap on the sides of the shelving so it will not get smashed and is out of the reach of children and pets.

These traps will stay effective for at least 3 months and cover 300 sq. ft. of monitored area.

Prevention

After clearing out the flour beetle infestation, you must carry out preventative measures to ensure they don't make a return. Here are the following measures we suggest taking:

• Check your food packaging before buying dried, boxed food items. Look for holes, tears, and rips, which might indicate that the food item is already infested.
• Also, start transferring your food goods (cereals, grains, flours) from their original packaging into air-tight plastic or metal containers to prevent an infestation or to isolate an existing one.
• Get into the habit of buying only a week’s worth of food goods rather than an excessive amount; this will prevent you from storing foods for long periods (months and years), which can open the possibility of creating an infestation.
• Keep up with regular Flex 10-10 pesticide applications every 30 days and check Pro-Pest Pantry Traps regularly to monitor pests every 3 months.

Key Takeaways

What are Flour Beetles?

• Flour beetles are a pantry pest known for creating large infestations and contaminating flour and other items. 

How To Get Rid of Flour Beetles

• To kill and remove flour beetles, we recommend thoroughly emptying out and cleaning your pantry before applying Pyrid Aerosol, Flex 10-10 Insecticide and placing Pro-Pest Pantry and Beetle Traps to control flour beetle infestations.

Preventing Flour Beetle Reinfestation

• Reduce clutter in your pantry, check your dried food groceries before putting them away, and store food in hard plastic containers to prevent future infestations of flour beetles.