Cereal beetle

[urbpan]

These tiny beetles (about 1mm long) have started showing up in grain products in my area this year. At my work, they are in the cracked corn we feed to the animals; at home, they get into breakfast cereal and other grains. I rinse my rice before cooking it now. They look like plain brown-black bugs until they're under the microscope, and some interesting details are visible.





Cross-posted to invertebrates

Comments

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Someone on invertebrates identified this as a "sawtooth grain beetle" Oryzaephilus surinamensis, a common kitchen pest whose scientific name suggests an exotic origin. I'll have to learn some more!