Trogoderma variabile
| Trogoderma variabile | |
|---|---|
| |
| Adult beetle | |
| |
| Larva | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Family: | Dermestidae |
| Tribe: | Megatomini |
| Genus: | Trogoderma |
| Species: | T. variabile
|
| Binomial name | |
| Trogoderma variabile Ballion, 1878
| |
| Synonyms | |
|
Trogoderma parabile Beal, 1954 | |
Trogoderma variabile, commonly known as the warehouse beetle,[1] is a species of carpet beetle in the family Dermestidae. It is found across Europe, Asia, Central America, North America and Oceania.
Description
[edit]Adult warehouse beetles average about 3.2 mm (0.13 in) in length and are some shade of reddish-brown, dark brown or blackish-brown. The larvae are cream coloured or some darker shade of brown, and average 6 mm (0.24 in) in length when fully grown; they have long bristles at the tip of the abdomen.[1]
Distribution and habitat
[edit]This beetle may have originated in Central Asia, but is now widely distributed, being found in Russia, China, parts of the Middle East, Europe, Central America, North America and Oceania.[1][2][3] It is an economic pest in a range of dry goods including animal foods, wheat and barley kernels, wholemeal flour, corn meal, oat meal, noodles and other cereal-based foodstuffs. It also infests animal detritus, fish meal, spices, nuts, cocoa and sugar products.[1] In the indoor environment it occurs in warehouses, granaries, food stores and dwellings, and outdoors in Russia, it has been found in bee nests.[4]
Life cycle
[edit]Eggs are laid in suitable dry materials, and if kept in the temperature range 20 to 38 °C (68 to 100 °F), hatch in about a week. There are normally six instars, and some mature larvae enter an active diapause, especially in cooler habitats, and may remain in the larval state for two years.[1] Non-diapausing larvae pupate near the surface of the foodstuff about seven weeks after the eggs were laid; the pupation period lasts about four days, and the new adults rest for two to seven days before emerging from the last larval skin.[1] Longevity for males is nine days at 40 °C (104 °F) and several weeks under cooler conditions. Females also live longer at lower temperatures.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g Robinson, William H. (2005). Handbook of urban insects and arachnids: A handbook of urban entomology (PDF). Cambridge University Press. pp. 104–105. ISBN 9780521812535.
- ^ "Trogoderma variabile Report". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
- ^ "Trogoderma variabile". GBIF. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
- ^ "Trogoderma variabile species Information". BugGuide.net. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
Further reading
[edit]- Háva, Jirí (2003). "World catalogue of the Dermestidae". Studies and Reports of District Museum Prague-East Supplement. 1: 1–196.
- Lobl, I.; Smetana, A., eds. (2007). Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera, Volume 4: Elateroidea - Derodontoidea - Bostrichoidea - Lymexyloidea - Cleroidea - Cucujoidea. Apollo Books. ISBN 978-8788757675.