Cigarette beetle

Cigarette beetle

Cigarette beetle, Lasioderma serricorne (Anobiidae: Coleoptera)
  • Hosts: cocoa, tobacco dried cassava, black and red pepper, ginger, turmeric, dried fruits and vegetables, chilli powder, spices, etc.
Nature of damage:
  • Grubs are damaging
  • Make small cylindrical galleries
  • Adults feed very little
  • The larvae are very active and move and bore into the commodity.
Identification:
  • Adult beetles are stout, oval, 2.0- 2.5 mm, light brown
  • The elytra are smooth with very short hairs
  • The antennae are about half the length of body with fourth to tenth segments as serrate
  • When disturbed the adults conceals its head under the large pronotum
  • The grubs are white and scarabaeiform.
Life history:
  • Each female lay100-110 eggs
  • Generally 4-6 larval instars
  • Larval period is 30-35 days
  • Adults live for 2-4 weeks
  • Adults do not feed.
Salient features
  • Eggs are laid closely on the commodity.
  • On hatching the larvae often eat their egg shells
  • They move more deep into the loosely packed commodities than tightly packed commodities
  • Pupation takes place in fragments of attacked commodity and waste material by making pupal cells
  • Adults are active fliers and fly freely in the evening and night.

2. Drug store beetle, Stegobium paniceum (Anobiidae: Coleopteran)
  • Hosts: chocolate, confectionary, biscuits, dried fruits and vegetables and spices.
Nature of damage:
  • Grubs damage by making small cylindrical galleries through the commodities
  • Adults fed very little
  • Larvae are quite active and move around or bore into the commodity.
Identification:
  • It is similar to cigarette beetle in appearance but can be distinguished by its antennae.
  • In Stegobium the last three segments form a large loosely segmented club.
  • The elytra have longitudinal striae which are also present in Lasioderma
Life history:
  • The biology of this pest is similar to Lasioderma except that Lasioderma serricorne performs better at higher temperature and grows more rapidly than does S. paniceum.
3. Almond moth: Ephestia (Cadra) cautella (Phycitidae: Lepidoptera)

Nature of damage:
  • Damage is caused by the larvae
  • Feed on the germ portion of grains leaving east of the kernel undamaged
  • They form webs on the top layer of grains, storage bags, etc.
Identification:
  • Moths are about 13 mm
  • Wing expanse of 20-25 cm
  • Wings are dirty white to grayish in colour with indistinct black bands about 4mm from the head
  • Larvae are grayish white, hairy with dark brown head with two dark areas on the first segment behind the head
Life history
  • Females lay 200-250 eggs
  • Oviposition period is 3-4 days
  • Matured larva spin silken cocoon at the junction of two overlapping edges of staked bags
  • Adults emerge by breaking the cocoon and live for about 14 days
Salient features
  • Females lay eggs in grains exposed through sampling spots in jute bags
  • Caterpillars are quite active and feed voraciously on embryo of seed
  • Before pupation large number of wandering larvae trail behind silken threads
  • The optimum conditions for development are 28-30°C with RH above 70%.
  • Below 15°C and RH 50% or less the development is practically stopped.
Last modified: Saturday, 3 March 2012, 9:02 AM