Drugstore Beetle

Natural Habitat

Found worldwide in temperate and tropical regions. Commonly found indoors in pantries, kitchens, and food storage facilities where they infest a wide variety of dry, stored products.

Diet & Feeding

Larvae have a voracious appetite and feed on a vast range of dry organic materials, including flour, cereals, bread, spices, pet food, and even non-food items like books (feeding on the binding paste) and certain drugs.

Behavior Patterns

Adults are proficient fliers and are attracted to light. The females lay their eggs in or near a suitable food source. The larval stage is the destructive phase, tunneling through and consuming infested products. The complete life cycle from egg to adult can be as short as two months in warm conditions.

Risks & Benefits

This insect is a major pantry pest, capable of contaminating and destroying stored foods and other organic goods. They do not bite, sting, or transmit diseases to humans. Their presence indicates an infestation that needs to be located and eliminated. They have no known benefits in a human environment.

Identified on: 11/7/2025