Confused flour beetle

[Muad_dib]

After 9 years without any problems,apart from the odd ant,our food cupboards have been overrun by what we think are tiny flour beetles.We were talking to a friend and she also found some in a box of cereal,so check all your open pkts of food.We found them in jars of spices,dried foods and even in a TIN of mustard powder.

[Johnny Lee]

Maybe flour weevil.Very often present when you buy the flour, I had 3 different packs of flour from local supermarket rife with them but they changed them right away for me. I think some people just sieve them out.

But if it as got into other things and sealed containers, it could be Indian Meal Moth. They are a B------d to eradicate. Please excuse my French but they crippled a lot of our spice and dried food stocks.

The Lavre are so small they can even get in between the thread on a closed jar and invade, have you noticed any small moths at all when you open kitchen cupboards ? I had to empty all cupboards , paying attention to the tops and corners and wipe out with repellent. Also throw away everything that was infested.

They appear as minute almost striped moth.. Good Luck. Meant to say everything now that is opened has to be kept in the seal type plastic containers. So far so good.

[thornaby]

Found these type bugs crawling alive in a sealed container of muesli, never touched the stuff since
Brings back horror memories
Yuk

[puppylover]

Put Dried Bay leaves in your flour container....this deters an infestation of weevils.

Just remember to make sure you don't leave any in when using the flour........ Bay leaf Victoria sponge does not taste good!!!

[Keithcaley]

Put Dried Bay leaves in your flour container....this deters an infestation of weevils.

Just remember to make sure you don't leave any in when using the flour........ Bay leaf Victoria sponge does not taste good!!!

I always leave a few Bay Tree branches, complete with leaves on shelves where cereals and pasta are stored.

Fortunately, Bay Trees grow like weeds around here!

[ToastLady]

I always put bag of flour in a plastic bag and then pop in the freezer for 4 days, as soon as I buy it. This kills any flour weevils (or whatever they are called). I then store flour in a sealed plastic container. Actually all my dried foodstuffs are in containers. Had an infestation once, and since going down this route, touch wood, all has been well.

[mrsgee]

We were infested with the little devils last year. Found they were in a pack of dried cannelloni that we bought in the south, but too late, they had moved everywhere. Threw everything out, but problem is they lay hundreds of eggs in crevices in the cupboards. A nightmare to get rid of, but now I keep all flour, pasta, rice (apparently Basmati is one of the worst for them), crackers.....in the fridge.....don't buy too much stuff at a time, so not stored.....and have loads of really good airtight containers......and bayleaves in the cupboards......not seen any for a few months now, so hopefully got rid. Good luck, they are an absolute nightmare.

[Muad_dib]

We've not had any little moths flying around and after checking a few sites on the web we're 95% sure they're flour beetles.Washed our cupboards out and hoovered them,not put anything back yet just in case any stragglers hiding.

[Owl Lady]

I cracked my problem by covering the jars, drums etc with cling film and then screwing the lid back on. Touch wood!!!!

[Groucho]

I always put bag of flour in a plastic bag and then pop in the freezer for 4 days, as soon as I buy it. This kills any flour weevils (or whatever they are called). I then store flour in a sealed plastic container. Actually all my dried foodstuffs are in containers. Had an infestation once, and since going down this route, touch wood, all has been well.

All flours come ready with weevil eggs waiting to hatch - it's a fact of life - always check the use-by date as that is set to coincide with the hatching life-cycle of the eggs.... I know it's alarming isn't it! But be assured no harm will come of consuming these little mites..... Extra protein for free - vegetarians won't be happy bunnies....

As previously stated the freezing of the flour bags will make sure the eggs don't hatch but they are ALWAYS there... check out the USDA site on how many foreign bodies per kilo are allowed and understand that food science is pretty crude in this respect.....

Makes you want to live on egg and chips I know!

[frontalman]

Lots of nutrition in insects and won't harm you at all. We'll (not us personally) all be eating them in a hundred years time.