The entire life cycle takes 1 to 4 months. The emerging adults often chew out through plastic, paper and cardboard packaging leaving small circular holes. The sawtoothed grain beetle Oryzaephilus surinamensis, so named because of the saw tooth-like projections around its thorax, is a cosmopolitan pest of stored grain and grain products. Adult beetles may live for more than three years, in which time each female lays up to 300 eggs. Development from egg to adult takes 3 to 4 weeks.
Huge numbers can develop unnoticed in undisturbed household foodstuffs.
There are three major storage moths in this State the Indian meal moth Plodia interpunctella, the Mediterranean flour moth Ephestia kuehniella and the tropical warehouse moth Ephestia cautella. The Indian meal moth is one of the most common moth pests found in home groceries. This moth, which has a wingspan of about 15 mm, is the parent of the pinkish-white grubs so often found in food such as raisins, dates and figs. The grubs also have been known to feed on biscuits, powdered milk and chocolate. They contaminate foodstuffs with webbing.