maggots in grains

[upceltic67]

i recently found maggots in my cupboard eating through a bag of wheat germ. anyone know how they get there, and should everything  in the cupboard be thrown out? thanks!

[andy hughes]

They got there because a fly has got in and laid eggs, which have no hatched. Remove eveything from the cupboard, throw out anything that is not airtight sealed, and disinfect the shlves thoroughly. Leave the cupboard empty for a few days, disinfect again, leave it a few more days, and then re-stock, that should deal with the problem.

[New Forester]

It's OK, it's not the plague -- relax, Andy.

 

It sounds like either weevils, mealworms, or another beetle.  There are various kinds which feed on stored dry food.  Their grubs eat their way through it, hatch into beetles again, which then breed and so it goes.  They are not usually a health risk, just distasteful, and of course they do eventually spoil the food.  There are some moths which do much the same.

 

Weevils are the reason why sailors traditionally knocked their ship's biscuit on the table before eating it -- thus of course missing out on some good protein.

 

Weevils are a couple of mm long, the roundish grubs often making little houses in dried lentils etc.  Mealworms are a bit under an inch long, straw-coloured and shiny, with six tiny legs at the front.  The beetles are long and brown.

 

Maggots are fly grubs (soft, whitish, no legs at all, just a dark head), and (depending on species) need food such as fruit, meat or other quite soggy stuff.  Unless your wheatgerm has got very wet it can't be maggots.

cont...

[New Forester]

... cont

I suggest putting the wheatgerm and its "friends" out for the birds, or if they are mealworms, put it in a tin for when you go fishing, or use them to tame a robin (they'll do anything for them).

Then check your cupboard carefully.  Check things such as flour, pasta, dried beans or lentils which are in paper or cellophane packages -- the grubs can sometimes nibble their way in at the bottom -- but if they look tidy they ought to be OK.  Look in sealed containers to see if they have got anywhere else.  Clean off the shelves of anything spilt, and vacuum the corners.  Check again a couple of times over the next month or two, just in case you've missed any.

Otherwise it'll be fine -- the grubs were probably in the bag when you got it and may well not have got anywhere else.  If you find no adult insects, they can't have been there long.

As a general principle, if you keep dried stuff such as pasta or beans in jars, use them up to the bottom each time before filling up the jar with new.  If instead you keep topping up a part-filled jar, a population of creepies can build up in it.

As to where they come from -- they are not that uncommon in grain stores etc, and some are bound to get through.  They used to be very much more common.

[booksworth]

Thanks, guys. I've just had a good long look in the rolled oats jar before making the first porage of the winter today. Glad to report no-one at home, unless they're hibernating already.