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IN PAKISTAN
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IN PAKISTAN
AUTHORIZED DISTRIBUTOR
Tobacco Under Attack: Cigarette Beetle Infestations in Action
By: Ahmad Mujtaba
One overlooked beetle in your storage room could lead to rejected exports, spoiled food, and a warehouse shutdown.
Meet the Cigarette Beetle – small enough to hide in a spice sachet, but dangerous enough to destroy a business. It’s a kind of pest you didn’t see coming and can’t afford to ignore too.
Quick Introduction:
Cigarette beetle (Lasioderma serricorne) is also known as the Tobacco beetle or Cigar Beetle and it is a common pantry pest. It is often found in homes, cigar houses, and tobacco storage houses. Correct identification is required if you want to eliminate it from your place.
Cigarette beetles are 2-3 millimeters in length with a brown colored outer look. The larvae are white ‘curl grubs’ up to 4 mm long, with three pairs of legs. They can move rapidly. It is often confused with a related species Stegobium paniceum, drugstore beetle which is wider in proportion to its width.
It’s not Just about Tobacco or Cigarettes Anymore!
Despite its very misleading name, Cigarette beetle doesn’t limits itself only to cigarette & tobacco related products. Yes, this pest is notorious for its unmatched destruction in the stored tobacco products but it also gets attracted to other than these products with ruthless efficiency.
Cigarette beetles feed on, lay its eggs and create nuisance for the owners. For sure, no one wants to eat the food where beetles have crawled in, munched in and laid their eggs.
Found worldwide – from homes to warehouses and supermarkets, Cigarette beetle has become a universal stored-products pests that is very alarming if it gets settled somewhere and a perfect chance to multiply. Left unchecked can cost you millions.
For business owner, it’s not just a pest – it is a profit reducer & a reputation destroyer.
Lifecycle: How they multiply in Silence:
- Eggs: Tiny and whitish, laid on or near the food sources. Females can lay eggs in batches of 10-100 eggs depending upon the quality of food.
- Larvae: Creamy in color, C-shaped grubs. While feeding, they bore into products.
- Pupae: Often pupate inside the food items or inside packaging.
- Adults: Adult beetles live up to 1-4 weeks.
The lifecycle of Cigarette beetle gets completed in 6-12 weeks. This depends upon the temperature and amount of food where they are residing in. Its development slows down in cooler temperatures.
What it Attacks: Far beyond Cigarettes!
TPL experts suggest that Cigarette beetle is known to feed a variety of stored products, not just tobacco. It includes;
- Food items such as spices (turmeric, cumin, paprika).
- Dried herbs, dried fruits, cereals, nuts & grains etc.
- But its favorite choice is always cigar & tobacco.
- It may also consume, pharmaceuticals and flour.
Signs of Infestation: What to Actually Look for….?
It doesn’t take much longer by cigarette beetle to infest some product, however it is the one of the most famous pests of stored products. Usually, the infestation goes unnoticed until it gets well developed because the stored products are not too often monitored.
- Pinholes in packaging
- Powdery dust nearby dry goods
- Beetles flying near light source as they get attracted to light
- Dead beetles inside the packaging
How to get Rid of Them | Strategies to Control:
Most of the infestations are introduced from food sources, so it is very necessary to inspect them in the prevention. Insecticide application is not the solution generally recommended for domestic purposes.
- Monitor all dry goods regularly.
- Discard out the infected items.
- Use airtight containers and maintain temperature & humidity.
- Clean storage house, warehouse and godowns with vacuum.
- Fumigation can also be considered at certain circumstances.
- Use of Pheromone Traps or to consult with TPL pest control services is a great idea.
Why it’s Worse for Pakistan!
- In Pakistan, especially during monsoon, the weather favors high humidity and the poor ventilation in our warehouses makes it susceptible environment for these beetles to breed rapidly.
- Many storage areas lack sealed containers.
- Spice, tea, tobacco and the sectors having dried goods are vulnerable.
- Monsoon dampness creates ideal microclimates in these storage houses for Tobacco beetles.
Why Pheromone Traps are the Best Choice for You…?
The interesting behavior in female cigarette beetles is that they release a sex pheromone serricornin to attract their males. This is very crucial for their successful mating. Synthetic pheromone traps like;
New Serrico traps and X Lure have been pretty impressive in trapping tobacco beetles & even more species as well. They work by releasing pheromones that attract Cigarette beetles, drawing them towards trap where they get captured. Currently, these are the best-selling traps for monitoring of tobacco beetles. Reach out to TPL pest control for fumigation services & pheromone traps to know better about their better & effective use.
The Cigarette beetle doesn’t just eat your food in storage house, it eats your profit and brand reliability!
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