Social media as a new tool for studying the composition and spatial distribution of stored‐product arthropods in households

BACKGROUND: Stored-product pests (SPPs) are well studied in food storage and processing facilities, but their occurrence in households remains poorly known. Because household infestations are difficult to sample and monitor using standard direct surveys, we used photograph-based identification requests from a public group on social media to investigate the composition, spatial distribution, and seasonal dynamics of stored-product arthropods reported from households during 2020-2023. RESULTS: In total, 994 SPP records were collected. Beetles dominated the dataset, accounting for 64% of records, followed by psocids, moths, and mites. Dermestid beetles were the most frequent group, representing nearly one-third of all records, while Plodia interpunctella was the dominant moth species. Overall, 47 species or higher determinable taxonomic units were recorded, showing that households provide diverse resources and microhabitats for SPPs. Immature stages and activity traces were frequent, particularly in dermestids and P. interpunctella. SPPs represented only 16% of all household arthropod identification requests and were less seasonal than non-pest arthropods. Pest spatial distribution differed among rooms and substrates: food-associated species were mainly linked to kitchens, psocids and mites to bathrooms and toilets, dermestids to bedrooms and walls or ceilings, and ptinids to multiple rooms, especially windows and windowsills. CONCLUSION: Households support a diverse assemblage of SPPs from different taxonomic and functional groups. Our study highlights social media as a useful complementary source of data on household pests, providing insight not only into their occurrence, but also into the taxa most likely to attract public attention and potentially require pest management advice.