Flesh fly

General
Flesh flies, also referred to as blowflies, are larger than house flies (1 – 1.5 cm) and usually metallic blue or green. In the Netherlands, we have about 80 species. Very common are the flesh flies of the Calliphora family and the green or copper coloured emperor flies of the Lucilia family.

Lifestyle
Flesh flies prefer to lay their eggs on dead animals but also on dead meat in the kitchen, droppings or other rotting material. The females can recognize the scent miles away. The males however prefer flowers. Once the female fly has found a suitable food source, the lays hundreds of eggs on it.

After just 1 day, the larvae (maggots) crawl from the eggs. The maggots shun the light and crawl to dark places (under rugs, in cracks etc). After 6 to 12 days, the maggots are fully grown and leave the next to dig into the soil and pupate. After 8 to 13 days, the grown flesh flies emerge.

Damage
Flesh flies can spread pathogens such as viruses and bacteria and spoil meat and condiments due to contamination (eggs, droppings.

Use
In nature, the flesh flies serve as a cleaning crew for waste and cadavers and serve as food for other animals.

Prevention
Keep windows and doors closed when possible or fit them with insect screens.
Keep meat and condiments cool and covered
Remove waste in a timely manner
Keep tables, floors, walls, machines etc clean
Dispose of dead animals

Control
Track down breeding places; dispose of dead animals. meat waste etc and properly clean the places where the maggots are developing. If necessary have the breeding places treated with an insecticide based on deltamethrin, permethrin of cyfluthrin.

Drug store beetle

General
The Drug store beetle can be found anywhere in the world. The drug store beetle feeds on food rich in starch, in which it also reproduces, such as baked cookies, dry old bread, bouillon cubes, pharmacy wares.

Lifestyle
The adult beetle lays 50-60 eggs, preferably in a dark place. The adult beetle doesn’t consume any food and doesn’t cause any feeding damage. Food consists of products, such as bread, biscuits, cookies, macaroni, vermicelli, bouillon cubes, grain, flour, etc

Damage
When dry food is affected, you will notice holes in the products. These are the exit holes of adult beetles. Flour products may contain cocoons. These are often located against the walls or bottom of the packaging. They drill themselves out of plastic, paper and even the metal foil of the packaging to fly out.

Prevention
Keep food in cool, dry areas. Use old supplies first. Don’t store supplies for a very long period of time.

Control
Find the source! Find out what supplies are affected and destroy them. Store all other supplies in properly sealed cans or canisters.

Fruit fly

Fruit flies can be found anywhere in the world. In the Netherlands and Belgium alone, there are about 25 species. The fruit fly is about 3-4 mm in length and has a yellow-brown to black colour, depending on the species. They often exist in beer breweries, lemonade factories, bars and stores that sell vegetables and fruit.

Lifestyle
Fruit flies undergo a complete transformation (metamorphosis). This means that these insects go through 4 life states during their development into adult fly, being egg, larvae, pop and imago (adult insect). The female fruit fly lays 400 – 900 eggs in yeasty or rotting material. For instance rotting fruit or vegetables, sour milk and fungi. After 1 day, the eggs will hatch. The larvae stage lasts about 1 week and the pop stage 2 to 4 days. From egg to adult insect, the development takes about 8 to 11 days. An adult insect can live up to 2 months.

Damage
Fruit flies can be very annoying and contaminate fruit and vegetable products. Unblemished fruit will not be affected, cut or damaged fruit will be.

Prevention
To prevent the nuisance by fruit flies, the following measures can be taken. Don’t store fruit and vegetables too long without covering them, observe good hygiene, properly close garbage cans and containers and after emptying, dispose of empty wine and lemonade bottles without cork or cap.

Control
Fighting fruit flies is only useful after the necessary prevention measures have been taken. There are a lot of different methods for fighting fruit flies, such as; fly strips, electrical fly swatters, thoroughly cleaning breeding places and treating them with an insecticide. EWS exterminator is happy to inform you about what methods are most suitable for your situation.

Grain weevil

General
The grain weevil (length 3 to 5 mm) is part of snout beetle family (Curculionidae), which, with over 45000 described species is most likely the largest family through the animal kingdom. The front part of the head has grown into a sort of trunk in all species, with a little mouth at the very end. On both sides of the trumpet snout you’ll find a club shaped antennas that are bent like an elbow.

Prevention
Te grain weevil, also known as the granary weevil originally wasn’t part of our fauna, but was introduced to our area long ago with the grain trade. In the Netherlands they exist in grain storages and kitchen supplies. Contrary to its family members, the rice and maize weevil, it can’t fly, but it is great at walking. Its feed consists of grain (mainly wheat and barley) but it also eats products containing starch such as dry dog food, birdseed, peas, macaroni, vermicelli etc.

Lifestyle
The female drills a hole in grain or something similar with her snout and lays an egg in it. She then closes up the hole with secretion product that has the same colour as the grain. This way, she can lay two to three eggs per day. The eggs hatches a larvae that eats the grain from the inside. After about four weeks it pupates within the shell of the grain and the adult beetle drills its way out. Because of this, the grain contains less nutrients and it is contaminated with the beetles, larvae and their droppings.

Prevention & Control
The use of pesticides is not necessary in the fight against grain weevils, plus it is very undesirable in the kitchen. Affected supplies must be disposed of and the trash bag should be taken out immediately. Cabinets and boards should be properly vacuumed and cleaned. Insects can survive in food residue left behind in seams or cracks for a long period of time. Check the other supplies and store them in properly sealable cans or pots, so that new contamination is no longer possible.

Mediterranean flour moth

General
The Mediterranean flour moth can be found across the globe. Mediterranean flour moth lay their eggs in flour, bran, oatmeal, etc. They are also very common in flour factories. An adult flour moth is about 1 cm long and the span of the wings is 20mm to 28mm. The colour of the front wings is grey to black grey, the rear wings are yellow-white.

Development
Flour moths go through a complete transformation (metamorphosis) meaning that there are 4 life stages. Egg, larvae, pop and imago (adult insect). The female lays 600 to 700 eggs in bulk flour. At a temperature of about 20 C° it takes about 3 months from egg to adult insect. At 20 C° the egg stadium takes 11 days, the larvae stadium 56-70, pop stadium 17-20 days. The adult insect can reach an age of up to 2 weeks. Below 13 C° their development stops. In warm buildings, there are several generations per year.

Lifestyle
The eggs are laid in bulk flour, bran, oatmeal etc. Only the larvae that come out of the eggs feed on the aforementioned products. The adult moths don’t affect anything! The fully grown larvae sometimes leave the food source and make concoctions. Subsequently they pupate and the adult insects emerge from the pupae.

Damage
The damage caused by the flour moth consists of: loss of material due to damage to the flour, flour products, cocoa, chocolate, dried vegetables and fruit, nuts and other vegetable products. Contamination of said products with droppings and concoctions. Affected flour turns grey-brown and smells unpleasant. The flour spun together by the larvae can cause blockage in the pipes, funnels and sieves of flour factories.

Prevention
To prevent nuisance from flour moths, one must keep the temperature in storage areas below 13 C° and maintain low humidity (40 to 60%). Keep food in properly sealed canisters and prevent long-term storage. Affected supplies should be removed and the resulting empty areas should be properly cleaned.

Control
Pest control can be carried out by treating the surfaces and seams with a residual-acting or by means of misting or gassing. The exterminator of EWS is happy to inform you about the best solution.

Mealworm beetle

Appearance
The mealworm beetle is a black to black-brown beetle with grooved elytra and a length of 13 to 18 mm. The bottom is red-brown. The larvae, that can reach 28 mm in size (meal worms) are yellow-brown and have three well-developed legs.

Lifestyle
Both the adult mealworm beetles and the larvae prefer to feed on vegetable material, but they can also eat animal material, such as flour products, bread, feed, tatters etc. The female beetle lays about 400 eggs that hatch after 10 to 20 days. Depending on temperature, the larvae stage takes 1 to 1.5 years, after which they develop into fully grown beetles in about 14 days. Because of this long life cycle, Mealworm beetles hardly ever form a plague. Only in poorly inspected, supplies stored for a long period of time, they can cause damage due to contamination. When mealworm beetles are found in a house, they almost always come from bird nests. They are taken to the nest by the birds, after which they enter the house via the roof.

Prevention
Hygienic operations
Remove old supplies
Remove abandoned bird nests
Control

Since mealworm beetles hardly ever exist in large numbers and it is easy to trace the source, chemical extermination is not required.

Grain weevil

General
The grain weevil (length 3 to 5 mm) is part of snout beetle family (Curculionidae), which, with over 45000 described species is most likely the largest family through the animal kingdom. The front part of the head has grown into a sort of trunk in all species, with a little mouth at the very end. On both sides of the trumpet snout you’ll find a club shaped antennas that are bent like an elbow.

Prevention
Te grain weevil, also known as the granary weevil originally wasn’t part of our fauna, but was introduced to our area long ago with the grain trade. In the Netherlands they exist in grain storages and kitchen supplies. Contrary to its family members, the rice and maize weevil, it can’t fly, but it is great at walking. Its feed consists of grain (mainly wheat and barley) but it also eats products containing starch such as dry dog food, birdseed, peas, macaroni, vermicelli etc.

Lifestyle
The female drills a hole in grain or something similar with her snout and lays an egg in it. She then closes up the hole with secretion product that has the same colour as the grain. This way, she can lay two to three eggs per day. The eggs hatches a larvae that eats the grain from the inside. After about four weeks it pupates within the shell of the grain and the adult beetle drills its way out. Because of this, the grain contains less nutrients and it is contaminated with the beetles, larvae and their droppings.

Prevention & Control
The use of pesticides is not necessary in the fight against grain weevils, plus it is very undesirable in the kitchen. Affected supplies must be disposed of and the trash bag should be taken out immediately. Cabinets and boards should be properly vacuumed and cleaned. Insects can survive in food residue left behind in seams or cracks for a long period of time. Check the other supplies and store them in properly sealable cans or pots, so that new contamination is no longer possible.