Prepare natural insecticides to eliminate weevils from your home

You’ve just opened a bag of rice and… surprise! There are tiny, unsightly black bugs scurrying around the grains. They’re weevils: a type of miniature beetle that infests dry foods, forcing you to throw them away.

There are many species of weevils, but the ones you can find in your kitchen pantry are just a few. If you’re wondering how to identify these insects and how to get rid of them once and for all with home remedies, read on!

What are weevils?

Weevils, whose real name is “curculionidae”, are a family of insects known for being a pest in homes, particularly in kitchens. This is because they get into packages of food that we have stored, especially rice, flour, cereals or legumes.

These insects are small (measuring three to five millimetres), cylindrical and have a beak on their head. Their life cycle lasts a few months and includes the egg, larva, pupa and adult stages.

To reproduce, weevils need humidity levels of over 40% and ambient temperatures of no more than 33 degrees and no less than 12 degrees. The female pierces the package of rice or wheat with her beak and deposits an egg inside the grain.

Once they are born, the offspring are dedicated to absorbing all the nutrients from the grains they infest, thus ending up depriving them of their properties and benefits.

It is estimated that weevils are one of the types of beetles with the largest number of species in the entire animal kingdom: regarding 62 thousand. Other studies even speak of up to 220 thousand species. In any case, the species of weevils that can infest food are regarding 12. The most common types of weevils are named following the food they consume:

• Chili pepper weevil.
• Coffee weevil.
• Pine weevil.
• Rice weevil.
• Sunflower weevil.
• Banana weevil.
• Cotton boll weevil.
• Citronella weevil.
• Hazelnut weevil.
• Eucalyptus weevil.
• Mallow weevil.
• Cottonwood borer weevil.

Generally, all species are easily identifiable as they are long, oval insects with antennae and small, robust legs. They are usually brown, black, grey or reddish in colour. This makes them easily visible on light-coloured foods such as rice. However, their eggs are undetectable on visual inspection.

Having a clean and sparkling kitchen is very important to reduce the risk of pests. However, it is not a guarantee that we can get rid of them. Usually, weevils arrive in already infested packages from the supermarket, or it is even possible that they enter the home through the window, given the ability of the adult insects to fly and their developed sense of smell.

When weevils arrive in your home, they infest areas where food is stored, such as cupboards and pantries, especially those where you store dry goods. Foods that are most susceptible to infestation include:

• Flours.
• Seeds (such as sunflower or sesame seeds).
• Cereals (such as rye, spelt or millet).
• Grains (such as rice, wheat, oats, or corn).
• Legumes (such as chickpeas, lentils or peas).
• Nuts (such as walnuts, almonds or hazelnuts).
• Pet food (dog and cat biscuits, for example).

6 home remedies

Knowing all regarding weevils can help you identify them easily, but it’s just as important to learn how to fight them. Luckily, there are some things you can do to get rid of weevils in your kitchen, such as using homemade repellents to prevent their reproduction. Let’s take a look below.

1. Natural repellent with laurel

One of the home remedies to keep insects away from your food is bay leaves. In addition to being used as a spice to add flavour and aroma to many dishes, bay leaves can keep weevils at bay thanks to its volatile components, such as eucalyptol, which has repellent properties.

All you have to do is put a few bay leaves inside the containers in which you store grains, flours or other dry foods.

2. Natural insecticide based on garlic

Garlic has also been tested as a natural insect repellent. To use it once morest weevils, you can crush a few cloves of garlic and mix them with water. Then, pour the entire contents into a spray bottle and spray the entire affected area of ​​the kitchen thoroughly. When finished, you can wipe it with a cloth to finish drying.

3. Diatomaceous earth insecticide

Another effective product for combating weevils is diatomaceous earth, a variant of silicon dioxide that contains compounds from prehistoric aquatic plants. The particles of this powder adhere to the insects, eliminating them by dehydration.

To use diatomaceous earth once morest weevils, you should sprinkle the product on the affected areas and let it sit for a few hours. When finished, wipe it with a dry cloth to remove any residue.

This is a great alternative to chemicals, which can leave toxic residues in an area as sensitive as the kitchen and compromise food safety.

4. Natural insecticide based on cloves

Scientific evidence has studied the effect of cloves as a repellent, and has determined that it is very effective in combating weevils. This is thanks to the presence of eugenol, a component that can repel certain insects in high doses.

To use cloves as a repellent, you can put two cloves in a liter of water and add a head of garlic. Then, blend all the ingredients and let the homemade repellent marinate in the refrigerator for a whole day. At the end, strain the mixture and use the resulting liquid to spray or apply to areas where weevils are problematic.

5. Natural insecticide with rosemary leaves

A study conducted by the Department of Chemistry at the National University of Colombia (UNAL) analyzed the effectiveness of essential oils from various plants, including rosemary, in combating the chestnut flour beetle pest. Rosemary was shown to have compounds that might be effective as natural insecticides.

You can create your own homemade insecticide with rosemary leaves to say goodbye to pesky kitchen weevils. To do this, you can boil dried or fresh rosemary leaves for 20 minutes. After cooling and straining the mixture, you can pour it into a spray bottle for application on affected areas.

6. Natural black pepper repellent

The strong aroma of black pepper can also serve as a repellent for weevils. In fact, this was the most effective method for keeping the black bean weevil at bay, according to research conducted by the University of San Carlos Huehuetenango in Guatemala.

One way to use black pepper to repel weevils from your kitchen is to place whole or roughly crushed black peppercorns near jars and packages of foods that are susceptible to weevil infestation.

Prevent weevils from returning to your kitchen

If you have tried some of the homemade repellents and the weevils still appear in your food packages, ruining everything in your cupboards, don’t despair! There are still a few actions you can take to combat this pest effectively.

1. Do a complete kitchen cleaning

Throw all contaminated packages into the trash, seal the bag tightly and take it out of the house as soon as possible. Then, you need to empty the cupboards and inspect other products, especially those that remain in bags or packages that are easily punctured by these insects.

Once you have confirmed that there are no more weevils, clear the entire area thoroughly and do a thorough cleaning of the kitchen. If you feel it is appropriate, it may be necessary to call in experts to carry out a fumigation.

2. Use airtight containers

Transfer the contents of products susceptible to weevils, such as rice or other cereals, to jars and containers that can be sealed tightly. Remember that they use their long beaks to inject their babies into packages, which will be very difficult for them to do in harder containers without any openings.

3. Inspect new products

Whenever you buy rice, cereal, or other dry goods, be sure to inspect the packaging carefully before you buy. This is easier for products that come in clear bags. Then, when you transfer them to airtight containers, do a more careful visual inspection.

4. Control the humidity of the environment

For weevils to reproduce, humidity must be above 40%, which means that the places most prone to the proliferation of this pest are those with high relative humidity. Keep your pantries as dry as possible to prevent this pest from reappearing.

5. Put food packages in the refrigerator

If you are one of those people who buys several types of food at the same time, such as cereals or legumes, it is advisable to put them in the refrigerator for several days, since low temperatures will end up killing these insects and their eggs.

Say goodbye to weevils in your kitchen!

If you have weevils in a package, all the other dry goods in your pantry will be compromised. This means that these pesky insects are capable of spoiling the entire contents of your pantry in no time.

If you’re wondering what happens if you accidentally ingest weevils, you should know that, in principle, there will be no serious consequences. In any case, you will end up consuming a food with fewer nutrients, such as selenium, an antioxidant found in rice that provides many benefits.

However, science is still studying the effect of weevils on the human body, so if you notice these nasty insects in your food, it is important to take action.