Do you have brown mini bugs in the house? Do not hesitate with an exact determination, because they can be dreaded storage and material pests. This guide will acquaint you with important facts about appearance and location. This is how you recognize small brown beetles in the apartment right away.

The brown fur beetle likes furs and fabrics to eat

Table of Contents

Show all
  1. the essentials in brief
  2. Identify brown bugs
  3. identify bread beetles
  4. Brown fur beetle portrait
  5. Identify grain weevils indoors
  6. Carpet beetle appearance localities
  7. Cockroach Wanted Poster
  8. frequently asked Questions

    9. the essentials in brief

    • Flying small brown beetles indoors are often 2-3mm long bread beetles that infest dry stores or nibble on wood, paper and books.
    • Brown mini beetles in the apartment with a size of 2-5 mm and an elongated to broadly oval body shape are called brown fur beetles, grain beetles and carpet beetles.
    • If a small, beetle-like insect swoops around at night, it is usually the lightning-fast, 10-15 mm large cockroach with a characteristic flat-oval body shape and epically long antennae.

    Identify small brown bugs

    Knowing a handful of facts is enough for a correct beetle identification in the house. Ideally, you have a magnifying glass to hand to check the information in the following table. These 5 beetle species are small, brown and have the guts to live indoors:

    Small brown beetle species bread beetle Brown fur beetle grain weevil carpet beetle cockroach
    size 2-3mm 2.3-5mm 2.5-5mm 3-4.5mm 10-15mm
    body shape oval elongated elongated broadly oval to spherical flat-oval
    Color elytra reddish brown light brown dark to black-brown shiny black-brown reddish brown to dark brown
    color legs Brown Brown dark brown black brown to dark brown
    Special feature with hard armor densely hairy elytra long trunk colored scale pattern very long feelers
    Typical locality in the kitchen on the windowsill in the kitchen in the room in the bathroom
    botanical name Stegobium paniceum Attagenus smirnovi Sitophilus granarius Anthrenus scrophulariae Blattella germanica
    middle name bookworm fur beetle none Figwort beetle cockroach
    beetle family nail beetle bacon beetle weevil bacon beetle Scrape

    Do you still have doubts about the true identity of brown mini bugs in question? Then read the following in-depth information on the appearance and frequently frequented places in the house.

    Determining bread beetles - facts about appearance and location

    As its name suggests, the bread beetle loves to eat bread

    Flying brown bugs in the kitchen is a good reason to check all dry supplies. The russet bread beetle is a common pest of many dried foods. The brown beetle with the hard chitin shell does not disdain newspapers, documents and books. If, with the help of a magnifying glass, dotted longitudinal rows can be seen on the elytra and light hair on the head, the woodcarid beetle has arrived in your home. This is where adult bread beetles and voracious larvae live:

    • Stocks: in rice, in bread, in pasta, in tea or coffee, in spices, in dry food, in oatmeal, in breadcrumbs
    • location: at the window, on the window sill, behind wood paneling, in kitchen cupboards, between waste paper and books

    You can find out how to get rid of bread beetles with simple means in the following video:

    youtube

    Portrait of brown fur beetle

    The brown fur beetle doesn't hesitate when it finds furs, wool, skins and textiles in your home. Adult, light brown, hairy beetles or the 7 to 8 mm long, bronze-brown larvae happily devour keratin-containing materials, including human hair that has fallen out. Fur beetles can therefore not complain about a lack of food in the apartment. Typical locations are:

    • In the bedroom, preferably in the closet, sometimes in bed
    • In the living room, often on the couch, in or on the carpet
    • On the windowsill, only adult brown fur beetles
    • Between cracks in the parquet or laminate floor, mostly light-shy larvae

    In contrast, the common fur beetle (Attagenus pellio) is slightly larger at up to 6 mm and has a deep black, densely hairy body.

    digression

    Stink bomb in the shape of a bug

    At first glance, the marbled stink bug can hardly be distinguished from a beetle. Ocher marbled brown elytra, 6 brown legs and ringed antennae characterize the appearance of the imported Asian bug species. With a full length of 15 mm, the insect is a giant compared to domestic bugs. The newcomer has been making itself unpopular in Germany since 2010 as an invasive plant pest. If marbled stink bugs (Halyomorpha halys) get too cold in autumn, they gather outside on the wall and on the window sill to boldly migrate into the house. If you defend yourself against the intruders with your hands and fly swatter, you will have to deal with the foul-smelling defense weapon. Marbled stink bugs stink when crushed, which is why the vernacular has aptly named the beasts stink beetles.

    Recognizing grain weevils in the house - tips on appearance and localities

    The grain weevil lays its eggs in grains

    Grain weevils seek proximity to grain of all kinds in order to feed on it and lay their eggs in the grain. The worldwide storage pests can be identified by their elongated, cylindrical, brown body with a slightly flattened shape. If you take a close look at the head, you can see a snout as a head extension, because grain weevils belong to the weevil family. The flightless mini bugs like to be in these places:

    • Grain: Wheat, rye, barley, oats, rice, corn, buckwheat
    • Food: pasta, oatmeal, muesli, dried vegetables, dry food

    Closely related to the grain weevil is the red-brown rice weevil (Sitophilus oryzae), 2 to 3 mm small, with a light, reddish spot on each elytra as a distinguishing feature.

    tips

    A small brown bug on the window is usually just the tip of the iceberg. Please use the find as an opportunity to look out for other beetles and their tiny larvae in the apartment. Bread beetles, grain weevils or carpet beetles like to take a break from endless eating and relax on the wall.

    Identify carpet beetles - appearance and localities

    Carpet beetles look like a brown ladybug

    The carpet beetle is reminiscent of an Asian ladybug in many ways. Spherical body shape, shiny black-brown basic color and decorative markings in multi-faceted brown tones characterize the appearance. A red elytra seam is characteristic, supplemented by several light transverse bands. A pretty pronotum with bright and red spots on the sides catches the eye. Carpet beetles feed on nectar and pollen. Of course, this fact does not give the all-clear when you find the pretty insects in the house. It is the 6 mm long, brownish, densely hairy larvae that attack carpets and textiles. You should look for the pests in these places:

    • In closets
    • In carpets
    • In the couch
    • On white flowering indoor plants, only adult carpet beetles

    Target any material that contains keratin or chitin to track down the voracious carpet beetle larvae.

    Identify cockroaches - profile of a pest

    Cockroaches are larger than most brown bugs and can fly

    You don't have much time to immediately distinguish a cockroach from a real beetle. The cockroach is the record holder among Germany's insects with up to 30 centimeters per second. If you catch a glimpse of the cockroach, you will see a flattened, round-oval, brown body with noticeably long antennae. An important identifying feature are two dark stripes on the neck shield. The 6 spiky legs have tiny claws that the beetle-like insect can also use to move vertically on the wall. The nocturnal pest cannot fly and prefers to stay in rooms with humid and warm conditions:

    • In the bathroom, often in drains and pipes
    • In the basement, mostly in the laundry room
    • In the kitchen, often under dishwashers and electrical appliances
    • In pantry cupboards

    There are few places in the home that are safe from cockroach infestation. The omnivores can make themselves very small to squeeze into cracks or hide behind the wall. Popular hiding places in the dark realm of German cockroaches are wooden floors, waste paper and the backs of cupboards or drawers.

    frequently asked Questions

    What little brown bugs stink when crushed?

    The marbled stink bug (Halyomorpha halys) is called the stink beetle for a reason. When crushed, the large, brown insects stink terribly. This awkward confrontation is common when stink bugs invade homes in search of winter quarters. You can avoid the stink bomb effect by putting a glass over the intruder, slipping a piece of paper under it and throwing him outside.

    What are those little brown bugs in the bed?

    Most of the small brown beetles in the house have migrated from tropical countries. A pronounced preference for cozy and warm conditions, for example, directs the African fur beetle (Attagenus smirnovi) unerringly in the direction of the bedroom and bed. Other cultures from distant countries appreciate the bed as a place of retreat or sit on the couch, like the 2 mm small bread beetle (Stegobium paniceum) or the 3-4 mm small black-brown carpet beetle (Anthrenus scrophulariae)

    Which black and brown bugs swarm in potting soil?

    The most common vermin in potting soil are black-brown fungus gnats (Sciaridae) and their insatiable larvae. The slim, dark mosquitoes are 2 to 4 mm small and buzz around excitedly every time the flower pot is shaken. Adult fungus gnats only live for 5 days and eat no solid food. It is the tiny, cream-colored larvae in the potting soil that cause significant damage to infested plants by eating away their roots. Matches, which you stick upside down in the ground and replace every 2 days, have proven to be a household remedy against vermin.

    tips

    The color is an important criterion for the competent identification of beetles in the house. Prime examples are the 10 to 18 mm large flour beetle (Tenebrio molitor) from the black beetle family. If many small black beetles crawl in the flour, they are the dreaded carriers of parasites, such as dwarf tapeworms, and not the more harmless, brown grain weevils or bread beetles.

Category:

Animals in the garden