# Sawtooth Grain Beetles - Questions



## Lonestar Guy (Mar 15, 2019)

Hi... so, several weeks ago (10-12 maybe) we encountered an 'invasion' of saw-tooth grain beetles in our pantry. We removed everything, thoroughly went through all the items and disposed of anything that was or could potentially be contaminated, included items with paper wrappers, cardboard boxes, etc.

We did not, and have not yet put anything back in the pantry because of course, originally, more beetles came from the baseboards, day after day, which I would expect. But, they just kept coming out, albeit in smaller and smaller numbers and still trickle out. (more below)

First I sprayed with a standard household roach killer, which killed the visible ones, but then more kept coming. (I'm sure it's just the life cycle working through.) Maybe some were killed by residual pesticide. Eventually, I moved on to DForce deltamethrin. It seems to work well as all but one that I have seen since starting to use that 5-6 weeks ago, are dead upon inspection. I have used the DForce a couple times, assuming it has residual staying power for a couple weeks at least. 

To be clear, the numbers continued to dwindle over the weeks until now it's just one or two every few days. 

Note, we have pecans stored in the other side of the garage that my wife cracks to feed birds. She once found (3-4 weeks ago?) one that was cracked and had the beetles in it. But has not found any since.

There is another pantry a few feet away that never had any true grains, sugars or oft used foods, mainly a lot of tea bags, and packaged dry foods i.e., spaghetti, rice, etc.. We found a few beetles in that pantry, very few compared to the other, but apparently a couple showed up this morning and one was still alive. I had also sprayed the boards of this pantry with the DForce. 


So... we are CONFOUNDED that we still see one or two every few days and are wondering when in the world this will ever stop on its own, or do we need more thorough and extensive spraying by me or possibly a professional? If professionally, is there something 'more organic, less chemical' that could be used, and if so, can I get my hands on it?

I guess that's it for now. Any suggestions to help put an end to this madness will make us very happy, especially my wife! She wants her pantries back!

Thanks!


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## Calson (Jan 23, 2019)

To get rid of such an infestation the best procedure is to remove and put into plastic bags and then the trash anything that is not in a can or bottle. This includes any food in the house or garage. 

A great deal of food including cereals and flour and candy bars and cashews will have insect larvae or eggs and normally it is eaten before the critter hatch. But if stored in a warm place, like on a high shelf, then the process can get acellerated. 

When I worked with a grocery store chain and an infestation would pop up (usually in the candy bars like Nestle's Crunch) all the boxed food would be put into the walk-in cooler to be chilled until the trash pickup day for the dumpster.


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