The foreign grain beetle feeds on molds on damp grain, bread, biscuits, and other products made of meal of flour. As such, it is not a major stored product pest. It also feeds on dead insects in these food stuffs. It is worldwide in distribution.

This reddish brown beetle is flattened and 2 to 3 mm in length. It has a 3-segmented club on the tip of the antennae. The main identifying character of the adult is the pair of projections on the front sides of the pronotum next to the head. The female lays 100 to 300 eggs in clusters of two to three, taking two days to lay each cluster. The larva is yellowish white and 3.5 mm in length when mature. The life cycle can be as short as 2.5 weeks under favorable conditions.

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