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Sawtoothed Grain Beetle
Image by USDA-ARS-GMPRC Image Database - License: Public Domain. (view image details)
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Sawtoothed Grain Beetle larvae
Image by USDA-ARS-GMPRC Image Database - License: Public Domain. (view image details)
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INSECT FACTS |
Identification
The Sawtoothed Grain Beetle is a slender brown beetle with tooth-like serrations on each side of the thorax. It is very similar to the similar to the Merchant Grain Beetle which has larger eyes and squarer head. The adult Merchant Grain Beetle can fly (although it rarely does) but the Sawtoothed Grain Beetle cannot fly.
Size
length about 2.5mm to 3mm
Food
The Sawtoothed Grain Beetle is a pest species found in cereal-based products and feeds on fine food particles, and does not damage whole grain. They infest cereal, corn meal, cornstarch, rice, dried fruits, flour, rolled oats, bran, pasta, sugar, drugs, spices, herbs, and various other food products. The beetles can chew through sealed packaging such as cardboard boxes, plastic bags and foil wrappings.
Breeding
The female Sawtoothed Grain Beetle lays eggs singly or in small batches in the food product. She lays about 200 eggs in her lifetime. Eggs hatch after about 8 days. The life cycle takes about 35 days and the larvae feed in the top few centimetres of the food stuff. Adults usually live around 6 to 10 months.
Range
The Sawtoothed Grain Beetle is distributed throughout the world and frequently transported in grain products. It is found throughout Australia.
Classification
| Class: | Insecta | | Order: | Coleoptera | | Family: | Silvanidae | | Genus: | Oryzaephilus | | Species: | surinamensis | | Common Name: | Sawtoothed Grain Beetle |
Relatives in same Genus
Merchant Grain Beetle (O. mercator)
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