How do you get rid of drugstore beetles permanently?
11/10/25 7:45pm
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This post was sourced from submitted reader questions and posted by wikiHow Editorial Staff, based on our article: The Most Effective Ways to Get Rid of Drugstore Beetles.
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To get rid of a drugstore beetle infestation at home, start inspecting all of the food items in your pantry and throwing away anything that contains beetles. Drugstore beetles look like tiny brown bugs that are oval-shaped, about 2-3.5 mm long, and have small grooves running along their backs. After throwing out infested food, wash your shelves and cupboards with a strong detergent.
If you still see them or have drugstore beetles in another room like your bedroom, vacuum any areas where you see them to kill the beetles and their eggs. After cleaning, leave out sticky traps or apply pheromone insecticides to attract and get rid of any remaining bugs.
To keep the bugs from coming back, keep food in airtight, resealable containers and spray a residual pesticide around areas where you saw beetles. Make sure to clean up any food residue or crumbs so you don't attract more beetles.
If you have any extra tips on killing or prevent drugstore beetles, share your best advice with us.
View hidden comment
If you still see them or have drugstore beetles in another room like your bedroom, vacuum any areas where you see them to kill the beetles and their eggs. After cleaning, leave out sticky traps or apply pheromone insecticides to attract and get rid of any remaining bugs.
To keep the bugs from coming back, keep food in airtight, resealable containers and spray a residual pesticide around areas where you saw beetles. Make sure to clean up any food residue or crumbs so you don't attract more beetles.
If you have any extra tips on killing or prevent drugstore beetles, share your best advice with us.
I agree that the easiest way to get rid of drugstore beetles in your home is by going through all your products and finding what is infested. Most of the time, it's something brought in from a farmers’ market or shipped to them through some other vendor.
If you can't find an infestation and you're still seeing them pop up around the home, sometimes using a different bait to give them something else to eat can help. Baits contain pesticides that kill off the adults and stop the breeding cycle.
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If you can't find an infestation and you're still seeing them pop up around the home, sometimes using a different bait to give them something else to eat can help. Baits contain pesticides that kill off the adults and stop the breeding cycle.
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