Dermestes lardarius

Last updated

Dermestes lardarius
Dermestes lardarius - top (aka).jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Dermestidae
Genus: Dermestes
Species:
D. lardarius
Binomial name
Dermestes lardarius

Dermestes lardarius, commonly known as the larder beetle or moisture bug, is a species of beetle in the family Dermestidae, the skin beetles. It is found worldwide. [1] It is a common pest of households and storage facilities ("larders") in much of the world. It eats animal products, such as dried meats and fish, pet food, skins and hides, feathers, cheese, and museum specimens such as dried insects. [2] It may also eat plant material that is high in protein, such as grain. [1]

The larva is longer than the adult and is covered in reddish brown or black setae. [3] It has two back-curved, spine-like appendages on the posterior end. The larva of the black larder beetle has less strongly curved appendages. Mature larvae of both species tend to bore into hard substrates such as wood, cork, and plaster to pupate. [4]

Adult larder beetles are generally 1/3 to 3/8 of an inch long and are dark brown with a broad, pale yellow spotted band across the upper portion of the elytra. The band contains three black dots arranged in a triangle shape. The sternum and legs of the larder beetle are covered in fine, yellow setae. Adult larder beetles are typically found outdoors in protected areas during the winter, but during the spring and early summer they enter buildings. Females lay approximately 135 eggs near a food source, and the eggs will hatch in about 12 days. The life cycle of larder beetles lasts around 40 to 50 days. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bookworm (insect)</span> Any insect that is said to bore through books

Bookworm is a general name for any insect that is said to bore through books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mealworm</span> Species of beetle

Mealworms are the larval form of the yellow mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor, a species of darkling beetle. Like all holometabolic insects, they go through four life stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Larvae typically measure about 2.5 centimetres (0.98 in) or more, whereas adults are generally 1.25 to 1.8 centimetres in length.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trogidae</span> Family of beetles

Trogidae, sometimes called hide beetles, is a family of beetles with a distinctive warty or bumpy appearance. Found worldwide, the family includes about 300 species contained in four or five genera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dermestidae</span> Family of beetles

Dermestidae are a family of Coleoptera that are commonly referred to as skin beetles. Other common names include larder beetle, hide or leather beetles, carpet beetles, and khapra beetles. There are over 1,800 species described.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huhu beetle</span> Species of insect

The huhu beetle is a longhorn beetle endemic to New Zealand. It is the heaviest beetle found in New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Varied carpet beetle</span> Species of beetle

The varied carpet beetle is a 3 mm-long beetle belonging to the family Dermestidae. They are a common species, often considered a pest of domestic houses and, particularly, natural history museums, where the larvae may damage natural fibers and can damage carpets, furniture, clothing, and insect collections. A. verbasci was also the first insect to be shown to have an annual behavioral rhythm and to date remains a classic example of circannual cycles in animals.

<i>Dermestes</i> Genus of beetles

Dermestes is a genus of beetles in the family Dermestidae, the skin beetles. The genus is distributed worldwide.

<i>Oryzaephilus surinamensis</i> Species of beetle

Oryzaephilus surinamensis, the sawtoothed grain beetle, is a beetle in the superfamily Cucujoidea. It is a common, worldwide pest of grain and grain products as well as chocolate, drugs, and tobacco. The species' binomial name, meaning "rice-lover from Suriname," was coined by Carl Linnaeus, who received specimens of the beetle from Surinam. It is also known as the malt beetle and may be referenced in the poem This Is The House That Jack Built in the line "....the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built" the malt referenced may not be actual malted grain but a sawtoothed grain beetle.

<i>Loxura atymnus</i> Species of butterfly

Loxura atymnus, the yamfly, is a species of lycaenid or blue butterfly found in Asia.

<i>Dermestes maculatus</i> Species of beetle

Dermestes maculatus is a species of beetle with a worldwide distribution, being present on all continents except Antarctica. In Europe, it is present in all countries.

Home-stored product entomology is the study of insects which infest foodstuffs stored in the home. It deals with the prevention, detection and eradication of the pests. The five major categories of insects considered in this article are flour beetles, the drugstore beetle, the sawtoothed grain beetle, the Indianmeal moth and fruit flies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European chafer</span> Species of beetle

The European chafer is a beetle of the family Scarabaeidae. Formerly found only in continental Europe, this invasive species is now found at temperate latitudes in North America. The large, white grubs of A. majale feed on the roots of most cool-latitude grasses, both wild and cultivated. This has made the European chafer an enemy of lawns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mammoth wasp</span> Species of wasp

The mammoth wasp is a species of wasp belonging to the family Scoliidae in the order Hymenoptera. It is a parasitoid on scarab beetles and is found in Europe and Asia and is the largest wasp found in Europe

<i>Anthrenocerus australis</i> Species of beetle

Anthrenocerus australis is a species of beetle belonging to the Dermestidae family. It is commonly known as the Australian carpet beetle and is one of the most researched of the thirty-one species in the Anthrenocerus genus. This is generally attributed to its prevalence throughout Australia and New Zealand and the negative economic and agricultural impact it has as a pest. It is the larvae that causes damage to products, not the adult beetle. The total life cycle of this insect is around three years, most of which is spent as a larva. Once the beetle reaches maturity, it only lives for between two and six weeks.

<i>Alphitobius diaperinus</i> Species of beetle

Alphitobius diaperinus is a species of beetle in the family Tenebrionidae, the darkling beetles. It is known commonly as the lesser mealworm and the litter beetle. It has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring nearly worldwide. It is known widely as a pest insect of stored food grain products such as flour, and of poultry-rearing facilities and it is a vector of many kinds of animal pathogens. In larval form, it is an approved novel food in the European Union, and also used as feed.

<i>Anthrenus flavipes</i> Species of beetle

Anthrenus flavipes is a species of beetle in the family Dermestidae known by the common name furniture carpet beetle. It has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring throughout the world, being most active in warmer climates. It is a pest that damages household materials such as textiles.

<i>Epicauta vittata</i> Species of beetle

Epicauta vittata is a species of beetle in the family Meloidae, the blister beetles. It is native to eastern North America, including eastern Canada and the eastern United States. It is known commonly as the striped blister beetle and the old-fashioned potato beetle. It is known as an agricultural pest.

<i>Dermestes ater</i> Species of beetle

Dermestes ater is a species of beetle in the family Dermestidae, the skin beetles. It is known commonly as the black larder beetle or incinerator beetle. It is native to North America, but today it is found nearly worldwide. Like several other dermestid beetles, this species is a common pest of stored products.

<i>Necrobia violacea</i> Species of beetle

Necrobia violacea is a species of beetle in family Cleridae. Cleridae beetles are a predaceous beetle found within forest and woodland environments, and can be associated with stored food products as both pests and predators of other insects.

Dermestes reductus is a species of dermestid beetle found in North America. It looks very similar to the larder beetle but can be distinguished using the following characters: individuals are smaller ; the light patch on basal 2/5 of the elytra of D. reductus is made of grey hair ; except for the light elytral patch, the adult is all black ; the sides of the elytra are relatively more parallel, the lateral margins of the prothorax less raised, and the body flatter than D. lardarius; the aedeagus of males is narrow in the middle. Dermestes reductus is found in wooded areas, typically under tree bark, and never in associations with humans dwellings or activities, unlike D. lardarius which is commonly found in man made buildings.

References

  1. 1 2 Dermestes lardarius. Canadian Grain Commission.
  2. Dermestes lardarius. Department of Entomology, Penn State.
  3. Larder Beetle Archived 2008-05-18 at the Wayback Machine . University of Rhode Island Green Share Factsheets.
  4. 1 2 Lyon, W. F. Hide and Larder Beetles. Ohio State University and Iowa State University Extension Fact Sheet.