Identify your Pests > Stored Product Pests

Import and export laws to different countries are now complex and stringent so as to limit/attempt to eradicate the transference of this classification of pest due to the catastrophic detrimental effect they can have on such a wide variety of food products.

The range of commodities that may be attacked is extensive: cheese, tobacco, wheat, rice, peas, beans, currants, nuts and coffee - in fact nearly all types of cereals, dried fruits, spices, pulses and all processed foods made from this extensive list.

Many of the Stored Product Insects will live and complete their life cycle within the product itself, and infest buildings/warehouses in the search for light or a mate. The insects are able to survive for long periods on small residues left behind after cleaning, or contained within the cracks and crevices in buildings and packaging.

Identification and treatment should always be left to the professional, as rapid multiplication to epidemic levels is possible within a short period of time.

Beetles (Coleoptera), Moth (Lepidoptera), Booklice (Psocoptera) and Mite (Acarina), are common known Stored Product Insects, all of which have a wide variety of characteristics, feeding, breeding and life cycles.

Part of the treatment against Stored Product Insects must always include a thorough cleaning programme, linked with treatment of processing/packaging machinery, transportation (lorries, ships) and storage areas, as well as treatment or disposal of food stuffs.