Scientific Name: Latheticus oryzae Waterhouse
Common Names: Longheaded flour beetle
Taxonomic Position
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Tenebrionidae
Genus: Latheticus
Species: Latheticus oryzae
Host Range
Wheat flour, rice, maize, barley, cowpea, Maida, pearl millet, Brassica napus (ray) and green gram.
Pest Destructive Stage
Secondary pest
Adults long lived, feed on commodity
Larvae mobile, live amongst commodity
Identification features
Egg
White, smooth, cylindrical eggs at random in grain and seams of the bags
Larva
The larvae are small white, vermiform and cylindrical with slightly sclerotized head capsule. Active grub feeds voraciously.
Pupa
Pupa is naked.
Adult
- L. oryzae are yellow-brown and look paler and brighter than Tribolium. Typically tenebrionid in shape and 2.7-3.0 mm long.
- Antennae shorter than head, 11 segmented with 5 clubbed apical segments.
- The elytra (wing cases) also lack the fine longitudinal ridges (carinae) found in Tribolium.
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Dorsal View
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Head front
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Pronotum and Head view
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Detection methods
L. oryzae may be readily caught in pitfall traps or crevice traps baited with food. Crevice traps are also effective and their efficacy can be improved with addition of food bait.