peanut pests (moth?)

[dylan]

I went to refill the peanut feeder yesterday & noticed that the bag of peanuts was looking a little messy (lots of dust and breakage). On closer inspection the peanuts seemed to have been 'drilled' into, I then spotted the first of several larvae.
Can anyone tell me what they are? I've had the bag of peanuts for 4-5 weeks and am wondering if something got into the bag to breed recently, or whether I should be contacting my bird food supplier to complain (& warn them).

Thanks, Dylan.

[Michael Frankis]

[Blue Tit thinks] But hey, those are the best bits! They're really lovely! [/Blue Tit thinks]

It could be before or after you bought them, too late to prove either way now, I suspect.

If you really want to kill off the larvae, pop the whole bag in the deep freeze for a week. Then thaw out and use fairly quickly (as dead larvae will go mouldy). Or better, divide into several feederful-size portions, and take one portion out of the freezer at a time.

But I'd be inclined not to bother, just put them as they are in the feeder, and the ones that won't fit in the feeder now, store them in a sealed container so the insects can't get out and infest other food in your house.

Michael

[Andrew]

I came across those a lot in my fishing baits (groundbait bags) and discovered they are vine weevil grubs. If you care for you plants then squash them all as they will eat the roots of stuff like fuschias. Best keep your peanuts in a plastic box if you only buy small kilo quantities. If you have sackfuls then get a blue plastic drum and keep them in that.

[dylan]

Thanks for the advice Michael. The last option sounds simplest, I'm sure the birds will like them ( I just don't want them loose in my house!).

Any idea what they are?

[Michael Frankis]

Hi Dylan,

Not sure what they are, but not vine weevils, those are a different shape (shorter, much fatter, always u-shaped, and with a larger head)

Michael

[dylan]

You had me worried for a moment Andrew!

Maybe I'll keep the bag well sealed whilst the ID jury is out :)

[Andrew]

Look at this Vine Weevil (http://mint.ippc.orst.edu/blackvineid.htm) picture.

[Elizabeth Bigg]

I have never had this problem, and as I buy peanuts in a 25 kg sack they last for a good long time. I'm no expert, but I would have thought that as it is only 4-5 weeks since you bought the peanuts, then you bought the problem too.

I store all my bird food in three plastic dustbins in the garage - necessary because of the mice in there.

Michael - I think your advice "If you really want to kill off the larvae, pop the whole bag in the deep freeze for a week" might be a little diificult for me, though I do have to divide the 25kg into 3 or 4 loads - still impossible since my freezers are upright models with shelves or drawers.

PS - Dylan, I hope these were guaranteed (free of aflotoxins) "Safe Nuts", though obviously your problem is a different one.

[dylan]

Look at this Vine Weevil (http://mint.ippc.orst.edu/blackvineid.htm) picture.

It does look pretty similar Andrew, but I'm not sure.
I've attached a closer look from the first photo which shows the underside.
My little pests seem to have 'legs' at the front and what appear to be suckers, that's why I thought they could be moth larvae.

[Elizabeth Bigg]

They bear some resemblance to mealworms - the larvae of the meal beetle.

[Andrew]

I am very confident it is some sort of Weevil.

[dylan]

Done a bit of googling and I think I've found what it is.

Indian meal moth, info here : http://www.the-piedpiper.co.uk/th7d.htm

After reading the bit about them crawling up walls & hanging from the ceiling, I had the pleasure of finding one of them on my kitchen ceiling (yuck).

Now I'm wondering if they are common in this country, or have been imported with the peanuts?

[KCFoggin]

In that case Dylan, I think I would want to put the whole lot outside and let the birds eat their fill of peanuts and larvae and the next batch put into portions as Michael suggested and freeze. Hey, would any harm come if you microwaved them quickly?

[Nina P]

I would believe the problem was imported with the nuts, and wouldn't get my nuts from the same source again, as I would think they were Grey imports, but unfortunately if you ask your supplier if they were the safe nuts they would say they were, but it usually is the middle man who does the dirty, I complained about one lot of nuts from my regular supplier and he has very varying qualities so now I buy nuts only for human consumption, a lot more expensive but at least safe for our feathered friends. Nina

[DoveKeeper]

I spent about eight months on a constructin site where a candy factory was setting up. They make some candy made "with real peanuts" . The nuts showed up in 1200 lb bins...it wasn't long before I was swipeing at aiborn pests. "where are all these bugs comming from"? I asked...They had an answer. I forget what they called them but they came from the peanuts. The protien in the candy is a multi-source nutrient! great for the birds and for candy lovers too!

[KCFoggin]

I don't believe I will ever eat candy coated peanuts ever again.:eek!:

[Mike D]

I had exactly the same problem with the peanuts I bought from my local petstore.

These looked and sounded exactly the same as described by Dylan. Mine hatched into small ca. 1cm long x 2.5mm wide moths, not weevils, which had yellow bars visible on the closed wings.

I watched them develop, whilst carrying on feeding the nuts, and can assure all that no other foodstuffs, let alone fuchsias, were affected.

I carried on feeding them, reasoning that since the tit family love caterpillars any nuts with a resident inside would merely supply more protein.

During all my investigations I did not manage to see an entry point where any egg may have been laid. This might suggest that the moths are resident in the country producing the peanuts.

I had only one sample, about a year ago, and look forward to seeing some more so I can try to get it ID'd.

[Joern Lehmhus]

Hi Dylan,
What you have there is a moth larva, most probably of the Indian meal moth (Plodia interpunctella). It can feed on a lot of dry stored products, like rice, wallpaper glue, raisins and all other dried fruits, nuts, peanuts, beans, cereals, dry bread, dry dogfood or catfood, birdfood, some teas and spices. They can survive the winter only indoors in Middle/Northern Europe, at least in Germany, but have populations in storerooms, supermarkets (allthough these always deny there is such a thing, at least here), at bakers and also in private households.
There are some other possibilities (for example some other meal moth species like Ephestia Kuehniella or Sitotroga cerealella, but those two species are more restricted to grains, flour and grain products) , but Plodia interpunctella is the most widespread (worldwide)and the most polyphagous. Here for example is a website about the species:

http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/urban/stored/indianmeal_moth.htm

and there are lots more if you do a google search.
The freschly hatched adults are a small moth with about 1 cm length, the front half of the wings strawcoloured or grey, the end half with a brownish-coppery colour.
If they are somewhat older and slightly worn , this is not evident any more, they tend to be a light grey or greyish -brown all over then.

They are no harm for the birds.

Its definitely no weevil larvae!
The only weevils in stored products are severel species of bean weevils and some in rice, cereals and maize. They all have much smaller larvae which do not leave a single bean or corn , but complete their development in it.

Hope that helps

Jörn

[dylan]

Thanks Jörn, I had convinced myself that they were Indian Meal Moths. I'll check my peanut supplies more carefuly in future (and my breakfast cereal!).

Encouraged by Mikes comments (thanks), I've put out my first batch of 'larvae enriched peanuts' today. The first suprise was that there were lots more larvae with the frozen peanuts, which indicates that they carried on eating/growing for quite a while after putting in the freezer. I'd put them in a bag, inside another bag which was fortunate as some of them had escaped the first bag.

I'll watch with interest to see if the birds enjoy them.

Thanks all,
Dylan.

[dylan]

PS - Dylan, I hope these were guaranteed (free of aflotoxins) "Safe Nuts", though obviously your problem is a different one.

The peanuts are RSPB branded from an online supplier that claims "....purchased from human food stocks to ensure that there are nil detectable signs of aflatoxin." :eat: