Khapra beetle
The khapra beetle is a tiny brown and reddish beetle, only about 2 to 3 millimetres long. Its babies are hairy little larvae. They eat stored grain and seeds and are among the worst food pests in the world.
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Fun facts
A larva usually takes four to six weeks to grow up, but it can stay a larva for up to seven years.
It can survive a very long time without any food, which makes it very hard to get rid of.
It is on the list of the 100 worst invasive animals and plants in the world.
A grown-up beetle lives only five to ten days.
It often travels around the world hidden in shipping containers.
Most asked questions about Khapra beetle
?Why is the khapra beetle a problem?
Its larvae eat stored grain and seeds and spoil food, and they are very hard to get rid of.
?How big is a khapra beetle?
Tiny, only about 1.6 to 3 millimetres long.
?Is the khapra beetle dangerous to people?
It does not bite or sting, but food spoiled by it can make people feel ill.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Trogoderma granarium
- Group
- Beetles
- Family
- Dermestidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Coleoptera > Dermestidae
- Lives on
- Asia, Africa, Europe
- Also known as
- Cabinet beetle
Where the facts come from
- Khapra beetle (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by CBP Photography. CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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