Licensed pest control
Weevil Control Services
Weevil control is mostly a pantry job: find the infested bag of rice, flour or beans, throw it out and clean the shelves. Most people don’t need a pro for it. When weevils keep coming back or the yard ones invade every summer, a one-time pest control visit runs $300 to $550 for an average home, per Angi’s figures. Tell us what you’re finding and we’ll connect you with a licensed pest company near you for a free quote, so you can compare that price with doing it yourself.
- Licensed & insured techs
- Free, no-pressure quotes
- Homes, apartments and businesses
What Do Weevils Look Like?
Pantry weevils are tiny brown beetles, about 1/8 inch long, with a long snout that sticks out in front of the head. Rice weevils carry four faint yellowish or reddish spots on the back. Granary weevils are plain brown with no spots, and maize weevils look like slightly bigger rice weevils, up to 3/16 inch.
Weevil larvae grow inside whole kernels, so you rarely see them. What you notice is adults crawling up the cupboard wall or small round holes in grains of rice, corn or beans. Flour beetles and other pantry beetles have no snout, which makes the weevil easy to tell apart.
Weevils in the bathroom or living room in summer are a different crowd. Those are often outdoor root weevils, about 1/4 inch long, black and unable to fly.
Signs of Weevils in Your Pantry
Small Beetles in Grain or Pasta
Brown snouted beetles crawling in rice, dried beans, popcorn, birdseed or pasta, often in an older bag at the back.
Round Holes in Kernels
Neat exit holes in rice grains or corn kernels where adults chewed their way out.
Weevils on Walls and Ceilings
Adults climbing the cupboard walls or flying to a nearby light. Rice and maize weevils can fly.
Fine Dust in the Container
Powdery residue at the bottom of a grain bin, left behind as larvae feed inside the kernels.
Weevil Types Found in US Homes
Weevils indoors fall into two groups: stored product weevils that breed in your food and outdoor weevils that crawl in and die. The group decides the fix.
| Weevil | Where You Find It | What It Means for You |
|---|---|---|
| Rice weevil | Rice, wheat, corn, beans and other whole grains in all 10 states we serve | Breeds in your food and can fly between cupboards. Toss or freeze every grain product it reached. |
| Granary weevil | Whole grains, birdseed and stored seed | Can’t fly, so it stays closer to the source bag. Same cleanout as the rice weevil. |
| Maize weevil | Stored corn and grain, and field corn in the southern US, including Texas and Georgia | A stronger flier than the rice weevil. Check decorative corn and popcorn first. |
| Root weevils | Northern states like Illinois, Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania, indoors in summer | Crawls in outdoors and doesn’t eat food, bite or breed indoors. Vacuum them up. |
| Acorn weevil | Wherever oaks grow, inside acorns brought in for decoration | Creamy white grubs crawl out of acorns. Throw the acorns away and the problem ends. |
How Weevil Control Works
Weevil control works by removing the food the weevils breed in, not by spraying. Iowa State University Extension says insecticide sprays aren’t recommended inside food cupboards, and wiping shelves with bleach, ammonia or detergent does nothing to the bugs. A cleanout, plus freezing or heating anything worth saving, ends the problem.
Outdoor weevils get handled at the foundation. University of Minnesota Extension says sealing cracks and fixing screens is the main defense, and a perimeter spray only helps in heavy years.
What Happens on a Weevil Job
- Find the Source
- Check every bag and box of whole grain, beans, birdseed, pet food, popcorn and dried decorations, starting with the oldest.
- Throw Out or Freeze
- Bag and toss infested food. Freeze anything you want to keep at 0°F for 3 days, or heat it to 140°F for 15 minutes.
- Vacuum and Wipe
- Empty the shelves, vacuum cracks and corners, then wipe down with soap and water to clear crumbs.
- Store in Sealed Containers
- Refill the pantry with glass, metal or heavy plastic containers with tight lids, so any new weevil stays trapped in one jar.
How Much Does Weevil Control Cost?
Weevil control costs nothing but your time and some food in most cases. The cost guides we checked don’t list a weevil or pantry pest price, so the numbers below are general pest control visit prices. Expect $300 to $550 for a one-time visit on a 1,500 square foot home.
Prices come from Angi’s pest control cost guide and cover general visits, not weevils specifically. Ask the company what it will do in the pantry before you book, since a perimeter spray won’t touch an infested bag of rice.
| Job | Typical price |
|---|---|
| One-time pest control visit | $300 to $550 on an average 1,500 square foot house |
| Average service call | About $172 nationally |
| First visit on an ongoing plan | $150 to $300 |
| Quarterly perimeter service | $100 to $300 per visit, useful for outdoor weevils |
Can You Get Rid of Weevils Yourself?
Weevils are one of the easiest pests to handle yourself. Clean out the pantry, freeze what you keep at 0°F for 3 days and move dry goods into sealed containers. For root weevils indoors, a vacuum is the whole treatment, since they die off on their own.
Call a pro when weevils keep showing up after a full cleanout, when you store large amounts of grain, birdseed or feed you can’t freeze, or when outdoor weevils come inside by the hundreds every summer. A tech can find a hidden source, like old grain-based mouse bait, a bean bag or seed in a garage.
So: a few weevils in the rice, do it yourself and save the money. Weevils that survive two cleanouts, or a yearly invasion, get a quote.
How to Keep Weevils Out of Your Pantry
- Freeze new bags of rice, flour or beans for 3 days at 0°F before storing.
- Keep whole grains, birdseed and pet food in sealed glass, metal or thick plastic containers.
- Use the oldest dry goods first and check the back of the shelf every few months.
- Toss decorative corn, acorns and seed displays after the season ends.
- Seal foundation cracks and fix torn window screens to stop root weevils.
Weevil Control in Your State
Pantry weevils turn up in every state, but the outdoor species and the busy season change, so pick yours for local details.
How It Works
Tell Us The Problem
Tell us where the weevils are, pantry or around windows, and your ZIP.
Get Matched With A Local Pro
We pass the details to a licensed pest company working near you.
Book Your Treatment
The company quotes the visit, and you decide if it beats a weekend cleanout.
Weevil Control FAQs
Have a weevil question we didn’t answer? Ask through the form and tell us which food they turned up in.
Are weevils harmful if you eat them?
No, eating a few weevils by accident won’t hurt you. They don’t carry disease and they don’t bite.
Still, toss food with live weevils or holes in the kernels. Freezing at 0°F for 3 days kills any you missed in food you want to keep.
How did weevils get in my sealed rice?
The eggs were already inside the kernels when you bought it. Weevil larvae grow inside single grains, so the bag looks clean on the shelf.
Adults then chew out and spread to other food. Freezing new bags for 3 days stops that.
Do I need an exterminator for weevils?
Usually not. A pantry cleanout and sealed containers fix most cases, and sprays aren’t recommended inside food cupboards anyway.
Call a pro when weevils keep coming back after two cleanouts. A one-time visit costs $300 to $550, per Angi’s guide.
Why are there weevils in my bathroom?
Weevils in a bathroom or bedroom are usually root weevils that crawled in from the garden through gaps and screens. They don’t eat your food or breed indoors.
Vacuum them up, seal cracks around windows and doors, and they fade out by late summer.
How long does it take to get rid of weevils?
A pantry cleanout takes an afternoon. Rice weevils need 25 to 35 days to grow egg to adult, so watch for stragglers over the next month.
New adults after that point mean you missed a source somewhere else in the house.
Get a Free Weevil Control Quote
Send us the form with what you found and your ZIP. A licensed pest company near you comes back with a price for weevil treatment, with nothing to sign.
Along with weevil work, the companies we match you with handle Ant Control, Roach Extermination and Rodent Removal, plus every other pest control service we list.