Dried Fruit Beetles
Facts, Identification, & Control
Carpophilus hemipterus (L.)
What Do They Look Like?
- Size: Adult dried fruit beetles are small (3 mm long).
- Body: They have oval shaped bodies with short wings that keep part of their abdomen exposed.
- Color: These beetles are black with two amber colored spots on their wing covers. Their legs and antennae are often reddish or amber in color.
How Did I Get Dried Fruit Beetles?
Dried fruit beetles can infest houses, although this is rare. Since these insects lay eggs directly on food sources, people may bring home contaminated packages of figs or other fruits. These beetles are much more likely to be a problem for farmers than homeowners.
How Serious Are Dried Fruit Beetles?
Besides being unsightly, dried fruit beetles can contaminate fruit with bacteria and fungal diseases. These beetles spread bacteria that cause mold and attract additional pests like flies.
Signs of Infestation
Adult dried fruit beetles crawling nearby or on fruit may be indications of an infestation.
How to Get Rid of Dried Fruit Beetles
What You Can Do
Check fruit during picking or while selecting it at the store. In the orchard, pick up any fruit that has fallen from the trees. If fruit is set aside for drying or canning, store it in sealed containers.
What Orkin Does
Your local Orkin technician is trained to help manage dried fruit beetles and similar pests. Since every building or home is different, your Orkin technician will design a unique program for your situation.
Orkin can provide the right solution to keep dried fruit beetles in their place and out of your home or business.
Behavior, Diet, & Habits
Dried fruit beetles are stored product pests that are from the Nitidulidae family. They are also called “sap beetles” because of their attraction to plant juices.
There are other sap beetles, including:
- Corn sap beetles
- Pineapple beetles
- Yellow-brown sap beetles
What Do They Eat?
Dried fruit beetles attack fresh, ripened fruit and dried fruit before it can be packaged and stored including:
In an 80 degree environment, the life cycle of dried fruit beetles (from egg to mature adult) takes about 16 days. It is possible for these insects to have several generations per year.
Adults deposit eggs on fruit in trees or during harvest. When the larvae hatch, they burrow into the fruit.