Larder Beetle Control: How To Get Rid of Larder Beetles

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

Have you noticed holes or other damage in your stored food, books, and furs? They may be the handiwork of larder beetles. Larder beetle infestations have been an increasingly serious issue for homeowners and businesses. 

Larder beetles have become a problem, especially in the winter when they tend to overwinter in homes and are usually found near store food goods, dog food, furs, hides, and feathers. However, They can also enter homes in early spring to lay eggs.

While larder beetles are not harmful to humans in that they do not transmit diseases, bite, or sting, the presence of larvae could contaminate food and animal products (furs, hides, taxidermy mounts). They can also damage many materials during their pupal stage when they bore inside timber, stored food items, and even lead.

If you want to get rid of larder beetles, our guide below can help. Learn all you need to know about what a larder beetle is, what attracts them, and how to kill them using our expert techniques and professional-quality products.

Identification

It is important to first properly identify and confirm that the pest you are dealing with is actually a larder beetle. This will save you time and money and help you select the right products and treatment approach for the pest. Larder beetles can often be misidentified for other pantry pests, which are also prone to invading stored food goods. But some characteristics set the larder beetle apart, which you can find below:

• The adult larder beetle is about 1/3 of an inch in length.
• The adult larder beetle is brown colored and has a light to yellowish mark on the midsection of their bodies.
• The wings are covered in small yellow hairs.
• The larder beetle larvae are about 1/2 an inch in length.
• The larvae have two small pincers at the end of their body.
• Like the adult, the larder beetle larvae are covered in hairs.
• Larder beetle larvae are brown in color.
• Easily found in stored food goods, pet food, stored cheese, tobacco, and dried fish, among many other products.

Inspection

Once you have confirmed that you have larder beetles, you need to inspect them to find out where they are located and what is attracting them. During the inspection, you will look for larder beetle activity and infested items.

Where to Inspect

Most larder beetle infestations begin indoors, so search in attics, basements, garages, kitchens, and storage rooms. In the kitchen, look in stored food goods, such as pantries, and where pet food is stored. In attics and basements or where storage items are kept, search for clothing with fur, rugs, carpets, animal trophies, animal mounts, and animal skins. Outdoors search for possible animal carcasses.

What To Look For

You're looking for larder beetles, larvae, and infested items. Larder beetles and larvae can be found inside food such as pet food. So search inside your stored food goods and see if there are any beetles inside. They also infest animal products such as animal mounts, animal skins, and clothing with fur. If you have successfully identified the infested items and have found larder beetle activity, proceed with treatment.  

Treatment

Once you have confirmed larder beetle activity and the infested items, it is time to apply treatment. Remember to read all product labels and follow the application instructions on them, and stay safe by wearing personal protective equipment.

To get rid of larder beetles and larder beetle larvae, you should start with an initial cleanup of any infested clothing, food products, or other items they have gotten into or damaged. Once that is complete, you can then apply pesticides. We recommend an application of Supreme IT Insecticide in the cracks and crevices of active areas and setting Pro-Pest Pantry Moth and Beetle Traps to catch lingering larder beetles that evaded the Supreme IT application.

Step 1: Preliminary Sanitation

Before using any products, you must first prepare the areas for treatment. You will need to remove contaminated food products and toss them in plastic bags. You will also need to wash and dry (or dry clean) any infested clothing or fabric-related material.

Begin by identifying the items that are infested with larder beetles. This could include furs, clothing, animal mounts, animal hides, animal skins, and furs. If possible, get rid of them. Wash and dry on high-heat items that can be washed. Go through your entire pantry to see if Larder beetles are infesting your stored food products. If they are infested, you will need to dispose of them. Also, don’t forget to check pet food.

Once the pantry has been cleared of stored food, we recommend vacuuming to suck up any larder beetles and larvae.

Step 2: Supreme IT

Supreme IT is a high-quality professional insecticide concentrate that is much more powerful than anything you would find at big box stores. You only need a small amount to get the job done. When applied, Supreme IT can remain effective for up to 90 days, so you won't have to reapply it often.

Calculate the square footage of the area you will treat to determine how much Supreme IT you need to use. Measure the treatment areas' length and width in feet, then multiply (length x width = square footage). 

Apply 1 fl. oz. of Supreme IT mixed with a gallon of water in a pump sprayer to treat 1,000 sq. ft. 

Fill your sprayer halfway with the required amount of water, add the appropriate amount of Supreme IT based on your calculations, and then fill with the remaining half. Agitate the sprayer to mix the Solutions well, then pump your sprayer a few times to generate a low-pressure spray.

Spray the Supreme IT Solution in the areas where the larder beetle infestation only occurred as an indoor crack and crevice treatment. Treat cracks and crevices around your pantry shelving, along baseboards, closets, bookshelves, and other active areas where Larder Beetles and their larvae have been.

Step 3: Apply Pro-Pest Pantry Moth and Beetle Traps

The Pro Pest Pantry Moth and Beetle Trap is an easy-to-use trap that contains no pesticides. Instead, it uses a pheromone-scented glue board to lure and capture larder beetles. Peel off the protective paper from the trap and fold it into a triangle.

Put the trap on the pantry shelf where it won't get squashed and will be left undisturbed. Alternatively, you can hang the traps in pantries away from food in closets or along bookshelves.

The Pro-Pest trap's pheromone bait will lure adult larder beetles to the trap where they will get stuck in the glue. This convenient trap remains effective in luring larder beetles between 60 and 90 days. One trap has a covered area of about 100 square feet.

Prevention

Once larder beetle treatment is complete, it is important to enact some preventative measures to keep a larder beetle reinfestation from happening. Below, we have listed things you can do to prevent larder beetles from returning:

• Exclusion is the best way to keep insects out of your home, including Larder Beetles. Make sure to use caulking or our pest control foam to seal cracks, crevices, openings, and entryways both inside and outside. By making it harder for insects to enter your home, you will have fewer infestations.
• Also, store all food goods inside glass or plastic containers, where insects will have a harder time getting to them. By keeping all food goods in glass or plastic containers, beetles will not be able to penetrate the packaging and feast away.
• Finally, you can apply Supreme IT as an insecticidal barrier around your home every three months to keep insects from coming indoors. By spraying Supreme IT every three months, insects will be repelled and killed if they come close to your property.

Key Takeaways

What is a Larder Beetle?

• Larder beetles are overwintering pests that may invade home pantries, basements, attics, and garages.
• Larder beetle larvae are the most damaging phase of the beetle's life cycle. They are known to burrow into food products to consume them and shed their skins.

How to Get Rid of Larder Beetles and their Larvae

• Before applying treatment products, dispose of any stored food goods that might be contaminated, which might be the source of food that has allowed them to grow their population.
• Apply a combination of Pro-Pest Pantry Traps and Supreme IT in infested areas to treat infestations, and then apply a barrier treatment of Supreme IT around your home to prevent a larder beetle reinfestation from happening.

Preventing Larder Beetle Reinfestation

• To keep larder beetles and their larvae from returning, preventative measures like sealing cracks and crevices with caulk, decluttering pantries and preventative applications of Supreme IT every 3 months.