Since a few weeks I have been suffering from small brown beetles of about 3 mm long in a bedroom. Most can be found by the window. But on the edges of the ceiling or on the wall there are also occasionally. Usually there is not much movement, but now that it is getting warmer, the critters are becoming more active and I have already seen them fly (although only short pieces each time, after which they crawl around again). I was able to take a few pictures to find out what kind of beetle this is. And how to keep them out (I think they come from outside anyway). I have uploaded the clearest here. The other photos I uploaded via another website. These can be viewed via the following link: http://imgur.com/a/haTlR
Answer
Dear Pieter,
Based on this photo it is not possible to identify the beetle with 100% certainty, also because the 2 “candidates” look very similar to each other with the naked eye. And apart from both beetles there are a number that are very similar so that stereomicroscopic examination is necessary to be sure.
A first possibility is the death beater or the woodworm Anobium punctatum. The adult beetles usually fly from April to August; the larvae live in the wood. In the case of the woodworm you should also observe fine drill dust in the room (e.g. under a chair, a cupboard, a wooden ceiling or wooden artifact), as well as very small exit openings of the beetle in the wood, order of magnitude of the exit openings 1 to 2 mm. You might want to check this out.
A second possibility is the bread beetle Stegobium paniceum. The bread beetle is a typical stock-destroyer that can be found in a variety of often starchy goods, such as macaroni, biscuits, dog food, grain, flour, bread, rusk, etc.
Because the morphological features are so small, a correct identification is only possible through the stereomicroscopic examination of the beetles.
If desired, you can always transfer a few beetles to ILVO (Diagnosis Center for Plants, Burg. Van Gansberghelaan 96, 9820 Merelbeke). Correct identification of the species can hopefully lead to finding the source of infection, and this is a prerequisite for successfully tackling the problem.
Kind regards,
Hans
Answered by
Hans Casteels
identification of pest insects in agriculture and horticulture, stock goods and homes
Burg. van Gansberghelaan 96 box 1 9820 Merelbeke
http://www.ilvo.vlaanderen.be
.