Name Australian Spider Beetle Latin Ptinus tectus Stats Adult beetle length 2.5 – 4 mm Appearance The middle of the body is constricted to give a waisted spider-like appearance. The legs and antennae are long. The larvae are fleshy, curved and not very mobile. Cryptic in their behaviour, these insects will “play dead” if disturbed.
Name Carpet beetles Latin Anthrenus spp Stats Adult beetle length 3 mm Appearance The varied carpet beetle and the museum beetle are the most commonly encountered by pest controllers. They have a speckled appearance which arises because of the many scales which cover the elytra and the prothorax which are black, white and yellow giving…
Name Confused flour beetle Latin Tribolium confusum Stats Adult beetle length 3 – 4.5 mm Appearance The shape is elongated; the antennae have a gradual five segmented club. Easily mistaken for the rust-red flour beetle, which has distinct three clubbed antennae. The cylindrical wiry larva is 4 to 5 mm long when fully grown and…
Name Biscuit beetle, bread beetle, drug store beetle Latin Stegobium paniceum Stats Adult beetle length 2 – 3 mm Appearance Reddish brown, oval beetles, with a dense covering of yellowish hairs. The head is hidden under the hood-like prothorax. Easily mistaken for the common furniture beetle or the cigarette beetle. A fully grown larva is…
Name Common clothes moth Latin Tineola bisselliella Stats Body length 6 – 8 mm. Wingspan 9 – 16 mm. Appearance The upper side of the forewings is buff, nearly golden, in colour. Both pairs of wings have fringed margins. Adults are rarely seen in flight, mostly only the males, and the females after they have…
Name Indian meal moth Latin Plodia interpunctella Stats Open wing span – approx. 16 mm Appearance The forewing has a broad grey band across the bronze brown wings. In common with other moth species, wing scales are readily lost and wing pattern is therefore an unreliable characteristic for identification.
Name White shouldered house moth Latin Endrosis sarcitrella Stats Open wing span 10 – 23 mm Appearance Readily distinguished from other stored product moths by the covering of white scales on the head and thorax. The shining buff upper side of the forewing is speckled with dark brown.
Name Warehouse moth Latin Ephestia elutella Stats Wing span 12 – 18 mm Appearance The adult is a greyish moth with a pattern of two obscure bands across the forewings. The mature larva is 10 – 15 mm long and is creamy white with a brown head capsule and brown body markings. There are three…
Name Case-bearing clothes mot Latin Tinea pellionella Stats Body length 3.5 and 4 mm. Wingspan 10 – 15 mm. Appearance The upper side of the forewings is pale brown with three darker spots on the wings. Both pairs of wings have fringed margins. The larva has the habit of carrying a silken tube and often…
