What is leaving residue and hollowing out my stored seeds?
People are finding mysterious residue, massive nest-like structures, and seeds that are completely hollowed out, particularly in corn and squash. The unusual way the seeds are eaten away makes it confusing to definitively identify whether the damage was caused by woodlice, mice, or another pest. This uncertainty prevents people from knowing if the pests are gone or what remediation steps to take.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- People have been saying this in most months since September 2026.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
What is leaving residue and hollowing out my stored seeds?
- 1Throwing out the affected seedDid this help you?
- 2Posting descriptions and photos of the damage to online pest control forums to ask for identification.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“That said the way it is eaten away did confuse me a bit so I wanted to make sure I don't have any other problems.”source ↗
“Can we definitively say this is mice?”source ↗
“This is the only area where this massive nest like thing was found. Any suggestions for remediation? Could they be gone?”source ↗
“I work in a garden center in Kansas, and found a bunch of woodlice in the zinnia seed. Threw out that seed and called it a day.”source ↗
“Then was going through some other seed and found this residue. It’s in a lot of the seed, but worst in the corn and squash. Some of the seeds appear to be hollowed out. Is this from the woodlice or something else?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 4Why can't I find where these pantry pests are coming from?
- 100What are these tiny red beads in my house?
- 8How to identify unknown worms or parasites on a pet
- 105How to identify a weird bug found in the house
- 56How to identify tiny unknown bugs found inside the house
- 2What is this weird thing in my garden soil?