On Mon, 23 Feb 2004, Tom Bennett wrote:

"David Rance" wrote Has anyone else had an infestation of this
particular bean weevil?

David, I've never come across a Bean Weevil, but I've seen plenty of
Golden Spider Beetle (Niptus hololeucus) and Australian Spider Beetle
(Ptinus tectus) in dried foods. (I used to be in Env. Health work). They
are fairly common in the UK and are roughly the same size - might these be
the culprits?

Tom, many thanks for your response. However, I'm pretty sure not. The
weevils I've seen follow exactly the pattern on the web pages that
describe them, even to the photograph! There is no sign of any
infestation on anything else in the kitchen.

We did have a weevil infestation some twenty years in some split peas
but these were slightly different, having the pointed proboscis, and
they did infest some of our other foodstuffs. The present ones are not
like them and are confined to the beans.

I've caught a few of them in a small jar in case I need to send them to
anyone. I could send you a few if you like! ;-)

The first signs are stray ones crawling around the kitchen (as you've
described). You can't use an insecticide around food; you just have to
throw away the infested foods and clean the cupboards.

Yes, of course. I was meaning for those that I intend sowing, much as
the stuff that is put on seeds that one buys.

I've had 2 problems with them myself (!) over the past 20 years: 1 came
from loose dog biscuits, the other from organic stone-ground flour.

We have cat biscuit but there is no sign of any infestation there (nor
on the cats!).

Anyway, thanks again for your suggestions. I shall keep an open mind and
continue to monitor the situation.

Best wishes, David

--
+-------------------------------------------------------+
| Internet: | writing from |
| Fidonet: David Rance 2:252/110 | Caversham, |
| BBS: telnet://mesnil.demon.co.uk | Reading, UK |
+-------------------------------------------------------+