Cigarette Beetle - Lasioderma serricorne Redmond, King County, Washington, USA September 8, 2010 Size: 3mm x 1mm
I'm confused... Is this a Confused Flour Beetle, or something else?
They are about 3mm long and 1mm wide with a solid burnt-orange color. There appears to be a circular divot or discoloration on the middle of the thorax on the dorsal side.
A couple weeks ago I found a couple of these little guys flying around the house. They're so small that, at first, I thought they were just gnats that got in through the screen door. I didn't pay them much mind until I caught one today and discovered that it was, in fact, a tiny red beetle, almost like a flour beetle.
So I started checking my grain containers and it wasn't long until I found the source. They were breeding in a container of dried chipotle chilies in my pantry. The container had a small breach in the lid, which allowed them to get in and out, but they were mostly content with just staying in the container where the food was. There were probably a good couple hundred in there, they must have been breeding for months.
Contributed by Brian Stone on 8 September, 2010 - 12:30pm Last updated 21 September, 2010 - 6:37pm |