Saw-toothed Grain Beetle

Oryzaephilus surinamensis

Appearance

•   Adults: 2.5-3.5 mm in length.
•   Dark-brown in colour; neck shield has two deep longitudinal grooves and 6 sharply-pointed projections on each side.
•   The slim, whitish-yellow larvae are freely mobile and grow to a length of 3.5-4mm; the pupa lies free of between adhering food particles.

Lifecycle

•  Females deposits about 150 eggs loosely in the infested goods.
•  The total development period is 3-10 weeks, depending on temperature, nutrition and moisture.

Habits

•  They are found in the warehouse, silos, mills, food-processing plants; infests grain and grain products, flour, oats, semolina, pearly barley, malt, whole meal and other vegetable stocks.
•  In granaries, it is usually found as a secondary pest together with other grain pests.