Insect of the Month: Fruit Fly (Drosophila melanogaster)
Casey Vollmer Casey Vollmer

Insect of the Month: Fruit Fly (Drosophila melanogaster)

Fruit flies feed primarily on moist, decaying, organic food items including fruits, vegetables and other fermenting liquids.

Fruit fly infestations can be identified by numerous adult insects flying around a food source or from the maggots infesting decaying food. In heavy fruit fly infestations, pupae can be found some distance from the food source when the larvae migrate away to find a dry, dark, and safe place to pupate.

Read More
Insect of the Month: Red-Legged Ham Beetle (Necrobia rufipes)
Casey Vollmer Casey Vollmer

Insect of the Month: Red-Legged Ham Beetle (Necrobia rufipes)

Signs of Red-Legged Ham Beetle infestation are white silken cocoons on infested food items, cracks/crevices, and fibrous or furry textiles such as meaty dog treats, tennis balls, and wooden furniture. Red-legged ham beetles eat many meat based products, similar in moisture to beef jerky. Click to view..

Read More
Stored Product Pests in the Food Distribution/Food Warehouse Setting
Guest User Guest User

Stored Product Pests in the Food Distribution/Food Warehouse Setting

While a lot of focus is given to pest prevention and control in the production world, I want to move on down the chain of custody to warehousing and distribution. There are a multitude of ways stored product pests and their issues arise in this setting. Warehouses are high volume, high traffic hubs for products that come from all over the world. They can house a vast variety of items. This makes an integrated pest management system very complex and involved.

Read More
Product of the Month - PTL Multi-Species Kit (IL-408-10)
Casey Vollmer Casey Vollmer

Product of the Month - PTL Multi-Species Kit (IL-408-10)

PTL represents the Plodia/Trogoderma/Lasioderma insects. ​​​​​The PTL Multi-Species Kit (IL-408-10) features the Insect Limited’s signature pheromone Bullet Lures™ that attract the most common pests of dried goods: Indian Meal Moth (Plodia interpunctella), Mediterranean Flour Moths (Ephestia kuehniella), Almond Moth (Ephestia cautella), Tobacco Moths (Ephestia elutella) and other food moth species; Trogoderma food beetles such as the Warehouse beetle, (Trogoderma variabile), Khapra beetle, (Trogoderma granarium) as well as (Trogoderma glabrum) and (Trogoderma inclusum); and also the Cigarette beetle (Lasioderma serricorne) species with a controlled release of pheromone over 3 months.

Read More
Insect of the Month: Warehouse Beetle (Trogoderma Variable)
Casey Vollmer Casey Vollmer

Insect of the Month: Warehouse Beetle (Trogoderma Variable)

Warehouse beetles occur in all life stages in warm buildings, throughout the year with two or three generations occurring each year. Females mate within one day of emerging from the pupa. Five to sixty eggs are deposited near a food site. Larvae will molt 5 or 6 times before pupating.

Read More
Product of the Month - All Beetle Trap Kit with RTU Gel Cartridge
Casey Vollmer Casey Vollmer

Product of the Month - All Beetle Trap Kit with RTU Gel Cartridge

Working closely with the pest control industry, Insects Limited recognized pest control operators and residential customers alike needed a Ready-To-Use (RTU) device to monitor for beetles that could fit in areas suspected of insect infestation without taking much space.

Read More
Insect of the Month: Cigarette Beetle (Lasioderma serricorne)
Casey Vollmer Casey Vollmer

Insect of the Month: Cigarette Beetle (Lasioderma serricorne)

Packages and food products infested with cigarette beetles usually have shot holes where adults have emerged from pupation. Adults and larvae cause damage. Adults are excellent fliers and are attracted to lights. These beetles are commonly found in tobacco and other processed foods such as spices, flour, meal, and dog food, but can also attack horn, wool, hair, hide, pharmaceuticals and even book bindings. It is a common household pest.

Read More
Plumes: How Pheromones Travel
Patrick Kelley Patrick Kelley

Plumes: How Pheromones Travel

Pheromone plumes are an intriguing and complex part of nature. Knowing a bit more about them gives us a lot of respect for how amazing insect communication can be and it also helps us become better at setting up trap monitoring programs and providing integrated pest management.

Read More
The Top 5 Fabric and Museum Insects
Guest User Guest User

The Top 5 Fabric and Museum Insects

Up to 54% of museums and historic homes have reported damage from insects. Textiles, animal hides, taxidermy, wood works, natural fibers (like wool and cotton), books, and paintings all contain material that insects can exploit and do irreversible damage to.

Read More
Watch: All About Indian Meal Moths
Casey Vollmer Casey Vollmer

Watch: All About Indian Meal Moths

In this video, Tom Mueller, Vice President at Insects Limited, goes into detail about the Indian meal moth, including life cycle, damage, detection, monitoring tips and tricks, fun facts, and more.

Read More
April Showers Bring May Flowers… and Carpet Beetles
Guest User Guest User

April Showers Bring May Flowers… and Carpet Beetles

Carpet beetles are a member of diverse family of beetles called Dermestidae. There are over 1700 species of dermestid beetles worldwide (Háva & Herrnmann, 2021) with a variety of feeding habits and behaviors. However, feeding on dry plant (seeds, pollen) and animal (hair, skin) matter is common in this group.

Read More