Red Flour Beetle

Natural Habitat

Commonly found in pantries, kitchens, and food storage facilities worldwide, especially in stored grain products.

Diet & Feeding

Scavengers that feed on processed grains, flour, cereal, nuts, beans, and dried fruit; they do not feed on whole, undamaged kernels.

Behavior Patterns

They are active flyers and strong crawlers that often hide in cracks and crevices of food containers; females can lay up to 450 eggs which hatch into larvae that live within the food source.

Risks & Benefits

They are serious pests of stored food that can cause allergic reactions and impart a foul odor and taste to food products through glandular secretions, though they do not bite humans or transmit diseases.

Identified on: 6/3/2026