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G E N E S I S 
      TERMITE &
                PEST CONTROL

Residential and Commercial Termite and Pest Control, serving Lancaster County and the surrounding area. New Holland's family owned, trusted local pest control and extermination experts.

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CONFUSED FLOUR BEETLE

Flour Beetle Damages & Risks:

  • Infests and contaminates stored flour, grains, cereal, dry pet food, and other milled products in homes, mills, warehouses, and food businesses.

  • Contaminates far more product than it consumes, leaving behind larvae, cast skins, and waste that spoil the food and can trigger rejected shipments or failed inspections for commercial clients.

  • Doesn't bite, sting, or damage the structure of your home, but ruins stored food and can spread through an entire pantry or storage room.

What to Look For:

  • Small, flattened, reddish-brown beetles in or around flour and dry goods.

  • A grayish tint, off smell, or clumping in flour and milled products.

  • Tiny cream-colored larvae mixed down in the product.

  • Beetles wandering on pantry shelves, in cabinets, or near packaged dry goods.

Why DIY Doesn't Work:

  • The infestation is inside the product, so by the time you see adults, eggs and larvae are already spread through the food.

  • They squeeze into unopened packaging and travel between items, so tossing one bag rarely ends it.

  • They hide in cracks, shelf seams, and cabinet corners that sprays don't reach, and reinfest from there.

  • Lasting control means locating every infested source, cleaning out the harborage points, and treating the areas correctly, not just discarding what you can see.

DRUGSTORE BEETLE/
CIGARETTE BEETLE

Cigarette Beetle Damages & Risks:

  • They infest an unusually wide range of goods. Beyond typical pantry items, these beetles attack spices, dried herbs, tea, tobacco, pet food, seeds, and even some dried decorative goods, so they turn up where other pantry pests don't.

  • Hidden, widespread contamination. They bore into packaging and product, fouling far more than is visible and forcing you to discard affected stock.

  • Product and inventory loss. For businesses handling spices, dry goods, or specialty products, these beetles can ruin high-value inventory across a storeroom.

  • Inspection and reputation risk. Beetles in product are an inspection red flag and a serious trust problem if a customer finds them in what they bought.

  • Not a health danger, but not acceptable. They don't bite, sting, or spread disease, but contaminated product still isn't sellable or servable.

What to Look For:

  • The beetles themselves. Small, about ⅛ inch, oval and reddish-brown. Cigarette beetles have a smooth, humped look; drugstore beetles are similar but with lengthwise grooves on the wing covers.

  • Flying and clustering at windows. Unlike many pantry pests, these are strong fliers and are often first noticed flying toward lights or gathering at windows.

  • Small holes in packaging. Tiny bore holes in boxes, bags, and containers where beetles have chewed in or out.

  • Infested spices, herbs, tea, and specialty goods. Damage in items other pantry pests ignore, a key tell that points to these beetles specifically.

  • Larvae in product. Small, C-shaped, cream-colored grubs inside infested goods.

Why DIY Doesn't Work:

  • They fly, so they spread far from the source. Being strong fliers, they move well beyond the original package, making the true extent hard to pin down and easy to underestimate.

  • They infest items you wouldn't think to check. Spices, tea, herbs, and decorative goods get overlooked, so DIY cleanups routinely leave a hidden source behind.

  • They bore into packaging. Sealed boxes and bags aren't protection, so an infestation usually reaches more product than it first appears.

  • Pantry sprays don't fix it, and don't belong near food. Store-bought insecticides shouldn't be used near food or spices and don't reach the source.

  • The real fix is finding every source. Lasting control means tracking down all infested product (including the easily missed items), treating harborage areas safely, and preventing reintroduction, which is exactly what we do.

GRAIN WEEVIL

Grain Weevil Damages & Risks:

  • Contaminated food. Weevils feed and lay eggs inside whole grains, rice, pasta, and seeds. The larvae develop within the kernel, so infested product is fouled from the inside out and has to be thrown away.

  • Rapid, hidden spread. A few weevils multiply into hundreds, moving from one package to nearby ones, so a small problem quietly becomes a pantry wide or storeroom-wide one.

  • Product and inventory loss. For a business, weevils in flour, grain, or dry goods mean discarded stock, and in groceries or warehouses that loss adds up fast.

  • Reputation and inspection risk. For food service and retail, weevils in product are an inspection red flag and the kind of thing a customer notices, damaging trust well beyond the ruined food itself.

  • Not a health danger, but not acceptable. Weevils don't bite, sting, or spread disease, so an accidentally eaten one isn't harmful, but contaminated product still isn't something anyone wants to sell or serve.

What to Look For:

  • The weevils themselves. Small, hard-bodied beetles about ⅛ inch long, dark brown to black, with a distinctive long snout at the front of the head.

  • Movement in dry goods. Live beetles crawling in or on bags and containers of flour, rice, grain, cereal, birdseed, or dry pet food.

  • Clumping or webbing in product. Grain or flour that looks packed together, powdery, or slightly off, sometimes with fine debris.

  • Holes in whole kernels. Tiny exit holes in individual grains or seeds where larvae developed inside and chewed their way out.

  • Beetles wandering nearby. Weevils turning up on shelves, counters, or windowsills near stored food, having left the original package.

Why DIY doesn't Work:

  • The damage is inside the food. Eggs and larvae develop within individual kernels, so the product looks fine until beetles emerge. Tossing the one bag you spotted often misses others already infested.

  • They spread to nearby packages. Weevils chew into unopened boxes and bags, so an infestation usually reaches more product than you realize, and a partial cleanup lets it rebound.

  • They hide in cracks and shelving. Beyond the food itself, weevils tuck into cracks, shelf seams, and container threads, where wiping down and repackaging won't reach them.

  • Pantry sprays don't fix it, and don't belong near food. Store-bought insecticides shouldn't be sprayed on or near food-storage surfaces, and they don't address the source anyway.

  • The real fix is finding every source. Lasting control means identifying and removing all infested product, treating the harborage areas around storage safely, and putting practices in place to keep it from returning, which is exactly what we do.

INDIAN MEAL MOTHS

Indian Meal Moth Damages & Risks:

  • The most common pantry moth, infesting grains, cereal, flour, dried fruit, nuts, birdseed, and pet food in homes and food storage settings.

  • Larvae contaminate product with silk webbing, droppings, and cast skins, ruining far more food than they eat.

  • A major concern for farms, mills, warehouses, and food businesses because of product loss and inspection risk, but not a threat to your home's structure or your health directly.

What to Look For:

  • Small moths with distinctive two-toned wings (pale near the body, coppery-bronze at the tips) fluttering around the kitchen, often near the ceiling.

  • Silky webbing or clumping in flour, cereal, and other dry goods.

  • Small cream-colored caterpillars (larvae) in the product or crawling up walls and across ceilings to pupate.

  • Cocoons in the corners of cabinets, shelves, and where the wall meets the ceiling.

Why DIY doesn't Work:

  • The larvae chew into sealed packaging, so the infestation spreads between items before you ever see a moth.

  • Adults fly and scatter, laying eggs in new products throughout the kitchen, so treating one source misses the rest.

  • Larvae and cocoons hide in cracks, shelf edges, and ceiling corners far from the food, and reinfest from there.

  • Lasting control means finding and removing every infested item and cleaning out the hidden harborage points, which store-bought traps alone won't accomplish.

SAWTOOTHED GRAIN BEETLE

Sawtoothed Grain Beetle Damages & Risks:

  • Contaminated food. They infest a wide range of dry goods, cereal, flour, dried fruit, pasta, nuts, and pet food, feeding on the product and fouling it so it has to be discarded.

  • Fast, wide spread. Their flat, narrow bodies let them crawl into sealed boxes and bags, so an infestation moves package to package and quickly becomes pantry-wide or storeroom-wide.

  • Product and inventory loss. In groceries, warehouses, and food service, contaminated stock means discarded inventory, and the loss adds up fast across a storeroom.

  • Inspection and reputation risk. Beetles in product are a red flag for health inspectors and the kind of thing a customer notices, damaging trust beyond the ruined food.

  • Not a health danger, but not acceptable. They don't bite, sting, or spread disease, so an accidentally eaten beetle isn't harmful, but no one wants to sell or serve infested product.

What to Look For:

  • The beetle itself. Very small, about ⅒ inch, slender and flat, dark brown, with six sawtooth-like projections along each side of the section behind the head, the identifying feature under magnification.

  • Movement in dry goods. Live beetles crawling in cereal, flour, dried fruit, nuts, pet food, and other stored products.

  • Beetles beyond the package. Because they wander, you'll often spot them on shelves, in cabinet seams, and along counters near stored food.

  • Product that looks "off." Packaged goods with fine debris, webbing-like residue, or a stale, musty quality.

  • Infested product across multiple packages. Rarely confined to one item, since their flat bodies let them invade nearby sealed goods.

Why DIY doesn't Work:

  • They invade sealed packages. Their flat shape lets them chew and crawl into unopened boxes and bags, so tossing the one item you found usually misses others already infested.

  • They hide off the food, too. Beetles tuck into cracks, shelf seams, and cabinet corners, where wiping down and repackaging won't reach them.

  • A partial cleanup lets them rebound. Miss one source or harborage area and the population comes right back within weeks.

  • Pantry sprays don't fix it, and don't belong near food. Store bought insecticides shouldn't be used on or near food-storage surfaces and don't address the source anyway.

  • The real fix is finding every source. Lasting control means removing all infested product, treating the harborage areas around storage safely, and setting up practices to keep them out, which is exactly what we do.

Pantry Pest Control Lancaster County

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