As they are excellent at crawling, these hungry insects happily feast on other items in your pantry such as spices, nuts, dried milk dried fruit, chocolate and even animal hides.

Flour beetles thrive in warm, moist environments and normally spread from
one place to another through contaminated flour.

If you’re noticing flour beetles crawling and flying around your kitchen, you’ll want to handle them as soon as possible. Call Allstate Pest Control today for expert advice and treatment options.

Signs of a flour beetle infestation

• Look for 3-4mm long, flat, elongated red-brown coloured insects with antennae and wings
• Red flour beetles flying around (confused flour beetles are unable to fly)
• When they are agitated or crowded, flour beetles turn pink and secrete chemical compounds called quinones. Quinones will cause a pink discolouration to flour and leave an unpleasant odour

To maximise the success of your pest control treatment, we recommend preparing the contaminated area by disposing all affected items in tightly wrapped plastic bags or burying them deep in soil. Applying heat greater than 60 degrees celsius to grains can also kill larvae.

Once your storage space empty, this is the best time to thoroughly clean, wipe, disinfect and vacuum. Pay special attention to cracks and crevices with accumulated food.

To stop outbreaks from happening in the first place, carefully inspect food before bringing it inside your home and practice proper food storage in sturdy, airtight containers.

If you’re still experiencing a flour beetle problem despite your best efforts to prevent them, we recommend calling Allstate to speak to a stored product pest technician.