Since the purchase of a new sofa and new acacia furniture, we see small brown beetles, which can also fly. They are on the walls, the ceiling, the curtain or fly to the light. We see 4 or 5 of these critters. Especially in the evening. What kind of critters are these? And what can we do about this?
Answer
Dear Nora
I fear that it is impossible to identify the beetle with 100% certainty on the basis of this photo, also because the 2 “candidates” are very similar and cannot be distinguished with the naked eye. And apart from both beetles, there are also a number of others that are very similar, so that stereomicroscopic examination in the lab is necessary to be sure.
A first possibility is the death knocker or the woodworm Anobium punctate. 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 round 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. These beetles are classically found in all kinds of foodstuffs such as biscuits, bread, stock cubes, rusks, macaroni, pasta, grain, flour, … But also dog food, bird seed, leftover bean seeds in the attic, a bird’s nest under the gutter, … are at the root of the problem. We have even found the beetles and the larvae in a cherry pit cushion. Both beetle species tend to fly towards the light (window).
Finding the source of infection is not always easy, but it is necessary if you want to get rid of the beetles. If you cannot immediately locate the source of infection, 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.
Sincerely
jochem
Answered by
Dr Jochem Bonte
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
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