Sawtoothed Grain Beetle

The adult is a small, active, brown beetle, 1/10 to 1/8 inch long, with a flattened body and six saw-toothed projections on each side of the thorax. The abdomen tapers toward the tip. Its body is well adapted for the cracks and crevices where it is often found. The larva is yellowish-white with a brown head and, when fully grown, is usually less than 1/8 inch long. The saw-toothed grain beetle is a common pest known throughout most of the world and is a common pest in grocery stores, food warehouses, grain storage and homes. A closely related species, Oryzaephilus mercator, is also important and is often mistaken for the saw-toothed grain beetle, but control methods of the two beetles would be basically the same. One method of distinction between the similar beetles: the Sawtoothed beetle cannot fly. The females live from 6 to 10 months and deposit 45 to 285 eggs in foodstuffs. Several generations maoccur each year, as the life cycle requires only 3 to 4 weeks during the summer.