How to deal with weevil in the kitchen

Weevilsthey are also elephants, belong to the most numerous family of beetles. Insects love the warm climate and 65 thousand species inhabit the tropics. Only 5,000 species live in the CIS. They are common in the fields, warehouses, where they go to food stores and then to the apartment. A long period of domestic pests do not give out their presence and by the time of detection the population becomes very large.Therefore, it is impossible to ignore the problem of how to get rid of weevils in the apartment.

What weevils look like and what they feed on

Weevils - beetles of miniature size, the length of an adult individual, depending on the species, varies from 2 to 5 mm. In the house most often penetrate barn, rice, acorn little elephant. The morphology of these species has much in common, and only an expert can distinguish them. A granary weevil in the apartment is more common.

Weevil species

Juveniles differ in a light brown color, as they age, they become almost black. The little body of the beetle is cylindrical with a characteristic elongated rostrum, for which he was called an elephant (see photo). Dimensions depend on the power components and reach 4-4.5 mm. In the barn weevil, the wings are poorly developed and it cannot fly. This deficiency is compensated for by the development of mobile legs, which allow the insect to migrate over long distances. In the robe there is a powerful mouth apparatus, thanks to which the insect gnaws through the hard shell of grains, croup.

Interesting!

Weevils are very shy. They are afraid of light and illuminated places.Sensing danger, insects are tightly pressed their feet to the floor and pretend to be dead.

Weevils in the kitchen affect cereals, pasta, flour, corn grains. Some species feed on dried fruit, nuts, baked goods, tea, and even herbal medicines. Both adults and larvae are harmful. In heated rooms at room temperature, beetles live more than a year. The main determining factors for their development and reproduction are:

• temperature 10-25 ° C;
• humidity in the room is 65-70%;
• grain moisture 14-16%.

Feedback

For several months now I have been fighting with weevils. For a long time I could not understand why they are turned into flour, and not in other products. And only after reading a number of articles, determined that the reason lies in high humidity. I keep the flour in the pantry room, and there is quite damp.

Olga, Voronezh

Breeding characteristics of weevils in the apartment

Granary weevil in the house

To remove the weevil from the kitchen will be much easier if you know how it multiplies. The female lays one egg in the grain, having previously made a hole in it. The fecundity of one female individual leaves 200-250 embryos.Having completed egg-laying, the female closes the depression in the grain with mucus, which quickly hardens. Some types of weevils randomly scatter embryos on the nutrient substrate. The eggs are transparent off-white in color and tiny sizes - just 0.6-0.7 mm.

A few days later, a worm-shaped legless white larva hatches from the egg, and it remains to live in the grain. Its size does not exceed 3-4 mm, and it can only be identified by a brown speck on the head. The larval stage lasts from 20 to 80 days, then the mature young individual passes into the pupation phase. The pupa has the same shape as the adult beetle. It is distinguished by its transparent cover and white color.

After pupation and hardening of the cover, the young beetle independently gnaws a hole in the grain shell and leaves it.

The causes of the appearance of weevils and damage

Where grain pests come from is a burning question. Perfect cleanliness in the kitchen does not save from the penetration of weevils. The most common option for insects to enter the house is to purchase contaminated products. Weevil in croup, legumes, pasta easily overcomes the path from the store to the apartment and develops in the same product.

If the croup has been sent for storage without proper measures, the beetle will multiply safely in the grains and the larvae spoil the product. When the food reserve dries out, the beetles gnaw through the bag or bag in which they were and are sent to search for new supplies.

Important!

Infected products can not be eaten, as they contain the waste products of weevils, provoking food poisoning, intestinal disorders.

Methods of dealing with beetles

Weevils in the house

The choice of means to get rid of weevils is determined by the main criterion - whether they are dangerous to humans or not. Considering that beetles start in food products and go deep into the grain, the use of insecticidal preparations is not possible. To poison insects, lay out the poison in the corners is an inefficient and dubious method that does not help to destroy pests.

How to deal with weevil in the kitchen depends on the degree of infection. The destruction of insects will require a number of activities:

1. Careful scrupulous inspection of food. Some types of weevils can start even in tea, so no product should be left unattended by the poet.
2. From the food in which the insects were found should be eliminated.Tanks and containers in which the beetles were found to wash with the use of disinfectants.
3. To process kitchen cabinets with a solution of vinegar. Before processing, carry out wet cleaning in the cabinets to remove possible waste products of beetles.
4. To get rid of weevils at the initial stage of infection, the grain, cereals should be placed in the refrigerator or in the oven.

Folk remedies are represented by plants with frightening odors: lavender, bay leaf, garlic. The leaves of the grass are laid out in the places where grains, cereals are stored, and the cloves of garlic are placed directly in the storage tank. The most radical folk remedy for weevils that can destroy adults is a mixture of turpentine, liquid soap, liquid ammonia and kerosene. All components are mixed in equal proportions and the resulting mixture process potential habitats.

The fight against the weevil will be more fruitful if the elementary storage conditions are observed: pre-treatment with cold or heating of the grains with subsequent placement in a container equipped with an airtight lid.