Tobacco Beetle Control

The larval stages of the cigarette beetle can feed on a variety of stored products including grain, cereal products, ginger, raisins, dates, pepper, dried fish, drugs, and seeds. Tobacco beetles feed on stored food products, contaminating them with excrement and dead bodies which can destroy entire stores of food. Recently, Tobacco beetles have begun infesting stored museum collections, using a newly developed biodegradable packing material as its food source. The surest sign of a tobacco beetle infestation is the adult beetles, often recognized as small brown beetles. Another indication of a cigarette beetles’ infestation is holes in the packaging and powdered form of the material coming out of the holes. Because of their endless munching, the beetles eat their way through their food source and leave holes while exiting the material. The object is to eliminate adult beetles that have dispersed from the infested materials. If the treatment misses any beetles, they can re-infest quickly. For that reason, it is usually advisable to have Pest Control Specialists do this treatment.