Beetles In Houston

Have you seen beetles in your home? If you have, you’re not alone. We get calls regularly from concerned home and business owners that are seeing beetles inside their properties and although they aren’t sure what kinds of beetles they have, they know they have a problem.  That’s where the Texas pest control professionals at Holder’s come in. As part of your first inspection, we’ll identify the beetles you have as well as offer you control solutions to get rid of the problem and keep it from returning in the future. But before you give us a call, you may want a little more information about the pests that are bothering you. Here are some beetle identification tips to help you determine what type of beetle have infested your property as well as the dangers these beetles can pose to you, your family and your customers.

The beetles we typically see in Texas include the red flour beetle, the confused flour beetle, the boll weevil and the June beetle (or June bug).

Beetle ID

The adult red flour beetle measures approximately 1/8of an inch, have wings, but typically only fly short distances, and have a dark-brown or red hue. The antennae located on their heads have an abrupt three segmented club end. While they cannot physically harm humans, they do plenty of other damage. As their name implies, they infest flour and feed on whole kernels or whole grains. Once infesting, they contaminate food sources with their bodies. Their bodies are known for producing a disagreeable odor and flavor in the flour they infest.

The adult confused flour beetle shares similar characteristics to the red flour beetle. The confused flour beetle measures approximately 1/8 of an inch, with a flattish body makeup and a reddish-brown hue. Due to its grooved wing covers with punctures dotted over them, they appear to be shiny beetles. Like the red flour beetle, the confused flour beetle can be found in stored foods such as dried fruits and nuts, legumes, spices, chocolate, grains, cereals and other products. While the confused flour beetle is not known for being dangerous, they produce a disagreeable odor in the stored foods they contaminate and, if you are in the food processing industry, can give customers the wrong impression.

The boll weevil is sometimes a grayish or reddish-brown beetle, measuring to ¼ of an inch in length. The boll weevil is known for being an extreme pest and feeding on cotton buds and flowers. Entering the United States in 1892, they have caused billions of dollars in damage to the US cotton industry, making life especially difficult for cotton farmers during the Great Depression. Rice boll weevils are known for destroying stored products while other types of weevils will enter homes in the winter.

The June Beetle is also known as the June bug. Measuring between ½ of an inch and 5/8 inches, they are reddish brown beetles that have a smooth brown exterior. June bugs have an attraction to lights causing them to emerge outside in the spring, or in your home. You will find these beetles, during the larval stage, feeding on grass and sometimes destroying roots, causing grass to turn yellow and die. This can cause patches in your lawn, and once inside your home can continue to be a nuisance. While these beetles cannot harm you, they do infest in large numbers making your home susceptible to infestation after infestation.

How can we help you?

Here at Holder’s Pest Solutions we can help prevent beetles from inhabiting your home and prevent them from coming back in the future. Here are some tips to prevent these common beetles from your home:

1. Check products that you bring into your home for signs of insects.
2. At the store, only purchase products that are completely intact; if there is a hole or rip in the packaging, don’t purchase the product.
3. Store products that come in soft packing in hard plastic or glass containers with tight fitting lids.
4. If you see signs of stored product pests in your home, put the affected product in the freezer to contain the infestation. You will need to dispose of this outside your home once the products and pests have frozen.
5. Change the lighting around your home to sodium vapor lighting. These kinds of lights don’t attract insects such as June beetles. Similarly, turning off outdoor lights at night, and covering windows with blinds and shades can block out the light that attract those bugs.
6. Contact Holder’s Pest Solutions to offer you beetle control treatments and prevention tips to keep the problem from re-occurring.

If you live or work in Houston, or elsewhere in Holder’s TX service area and you have beetles in your home or business, give us a call. We’d be happy to send a technician out to determine your pest problem and offer you treatment options to take care of your problem. You shouldn’t have to live with these insects inside your home and if they are in your business, you know how much lost revenue they can cause; contact us today to schedule your first appointment and don’t let beetles in Texas continue to be a problem for you.