Pantry Pests (Stored-product pest) are collectively a whole group of insects which spoil foods found in kitchens and food pantries. There is rarely a food item in a kitchen which is immune to these pests. Stored-product pests are usually brought into the home in an infested package of food. Some invade homes through normal methods of entry. Often the first indication of the pest is the emergence of small moths flying around or the existence of beetles near the food items.
Meal Moths
The most common species of moths found in the food pantry is the Indianmeal moth. All damage is done by the larvae, which attack a wide range of products, including cornmeal, cereal, flour, rice, dried fruit,  nuts, candies, and other confections. When infestations are heavy, mature larvae can often be found in parts of the house far from the original food source because they move quite a distance to pupate.
Description
The Indianmeal moth is a small moth with reddish brown wings and whitish gray colors on the body portion. The female moth lays its eggs individually or in groups on food items. Eggs hatch within a week to form small, whitish caterpillars.
Life Cycle
Larvae of the Indianmeal moth spin a web as they mature and leave behind silken threads when they crawl. This larva spins a silken cocoon and transforms into a light brown pupa, from which the adult moth later emerges. The Indianmeal moth takes about 6 to 8 weeks to complete egg, larval, and pupal stages during warm weather
Note: Don't confuse Indianmeal moths with clothes moths, which are smaller and have more hair than pantry moths.
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Beetles
There are several species of beetles which frequently spoil a wide variety of foods: the warehouse beetle, grain beetle, merchant grain beetle, confused flour beetle, red flour beetle, drugstore beetle and the cigarette beetle
Warehouse Beetle
The warehouse beetle feeds on many types of foods including cereals, candy, cornmeal, pet foods, flour, nuts, dried peas and beans, pastas,  potato chips, spices, dead animals, and dead insects.
Adult beetles are roughly 1/8 inch long with oval shaped bodies, including a brown and yellowish pattern on the wing covers. Female beetles lay approximately 90 eggs in a food source. Larvae are about 1/4 inch when fully grown and feed on the food in which it was born. In warm temperatures, the entire life cycle from egg to adult can be completed in 45 days.
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Sawtoothed Grain Beetle and Merchant Grain Beetle.
The sawtoothed grain beetle and the merchant grain beetle are flat, slender in shape, oftern brown in color and are about 1/10-inch long. Both beetles have six sawlike tooth projections on each side of the thorax. The sawtoothed grain beetle has smaller eyes than the merchant grain beetle. In both larval and adult stages, these beetles feed on grain products like flours, meals, breakfast foods, poultry feeds, coconut, nutmeats, dried fruit and candies.
Both beetles’ biology and behaviors are almost identical. The adult beetles live an average of 6 to 10 months. The female beetle of both species drops her eggs around foodstuffs. They become fully grown in about 2 weeks during summer months and then construct delicate cocoon-like coverings by joining together small grains or fragments of food particles with a sticky secretion. Within this cell, the larva changes to the pupal stage. Development from egg to adult may take from 3 to 4 weeks in summer
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Confused Flour Beetle and Red Flour Beetle
The confused flour beetle and the red flour beetle are very similar in appearance and can be most easily distinguished by examining the antennae: the antennae of the red flour beetle end abruptly in a three-segmented club, while the confused flour beetle's antennae gradually enlarge towards the tip, ending in a four-segmented club. Adult beetles of these two species have shiny, reddish brown bodies that are about 1/7-inch long, flattened, and oval. These beetles have a very wide food range including cereals, damaged grains, grain products, shelled nuts, dried fruit, chocolate, drugs, and herbarium and museum specimens.
The biology of these two species are very similar; their average lifespan is about 1 year, but some have been known to live almost 4 years. The females lay their small, white eggs loosely in flour or other food material. The eggs, which are coated with a sticky secretion, become covered with flour or meal and readily adhere to the sides of sacks, boxes, and other containers. They hatch into small wormlike larvae that are slender, cylindrical, and wiry in appearance. When fully grown, the larva is 3/16-inch long and white, tinged with yellow. At this stage, it transforms into a small pupa. At first white, the pupa gradually changes to yellow and then brown, and shortly afterward transforms into a beetle. In summer, the period from egg to adult averages about 6 weeks.
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Cigarette Beetle and Drugstore Beetle
The cigarette beetle and the drugstore beetle look very similar; however, the cigarette beetle is more common. Both beetles are about 1/8-inch long, cylindrical, and evenly light brown in color. The wing covers of the drugstore beetle have long grooves, whereas, cigarette beetle are smooth.
The cigarette beetle feeds on cured tobacco, cigarettes, herbs, spices, nuts, meats and cereal products. It may also fond of wreaths, and spices such as chili powder or paprika.
The cigarette beetle lays its eggs in the food item. The small, yellowish white grubs are covered with silky, yellowish brown hairs and are about 1/6-inch long when fully grown. The period from egg to adult is about 6 weeks.
The drugstore beetle is a very broad feeder, ruining a great variety of stored foods, seeds, pet foods, spices, and pastry items. It gets its name from its habit of feeding on almost all drugs found in drug stores. The drugstore beetle lays eggs in almost any dry, organic substance. After hatching, the small, white grubs tunnel through these substances and, when fully grown, pupate in small cocoons. The entire life cycle may take place in less than 2 months.
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