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INTRODUCTION. The cigarette beetle gets its common name because it attacks tobacco wherever it is stored.  Its distribution is worldwide.

RECOGNITION. Adults about 1/16-1/8in (2-3 mm) long and oval.  Color light brown.  Antennae serrate or sawlike.  Punctures or pits on elytra (wing covers) irregular or scattered in distribution, not arranged in rows.  As typical of anobiids, head and prothorax bent downward, making head barely or not visible from above and giving beetle a strongly humped appearance.

     Mature larva about 1/16-1/8in (2-3 mm) long.  Form C-shaped, with thoracic and abdominal segments about same width.  Color white, with many long hairs.  With well-developed 4-segmented legs.  Drugstore beetle larvae have the same description.

 

 

 

 

 

HABITS. The cigarette beetle attacks a host of items such as paprika, dry dog food, beans, biscuits, chickpeas, cigars, cigarettes, cocoa beans, coffee beans, cottonseed (before and after harvest), dates dried banana, dried cabbage, dried carrot, dried fruits, drugs, flour, dried flowers, ginger, grains, herbarium specimens, herbs, peanuts, pepper, raisins, rice, yeast, seeds, spices, furniture stuffing, bookbinders paste and books, and even insecticides containing pyrethrum.  It also attacks animal material such as dried fish, fish meal, meat meal, leather, silk, and even dried insects.  Dry dog food and paprika are most commonly attacked in the home.

     Adults fly during the late afternoon and on dull cloudy days, and are attracted to light.  They can be numerous enough to make both plant workers and occupants of nearby homes miserable by their presence.

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