Dermestes ater

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 (not to be confused with Dermestes haemorrhoidalis, the African larder beetle, also sometimes referred to as the black larder beetle).[1] 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.[1]

Dermestes ater
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Dermestidae
Genus: Dermestes
Species:
D. ater
Binomial name
Dermestes ater
De Geer, 1774

Description

The adult beetle is about 7 to 9 millimeters long. It has black or brown elytra and a coating of yellowish hairs. The male can be distinguished from the female by a row of bristles along the abdomen. The larva is white with long dark bristles, its body darkening in color to black, brown, or reddish as it grows. It reaches a maximum length around 14 millimeters.

Dermestes ater resembles D. haemorrhoidalis and D. peruvianus but differs in several ways. In D. ater the first visible sternite bear impressed lines parallel to the lateral margin that are angled inwards towards the base, therefore their end that is next to the metasternal hind margin is at some distance from the edge; while on D. peruvianus and D. haemorrhoidalis these lines are parallel to the side margin throughout their length. Dermestes ater further differs from the two other species in having a symmetrical pattern of light and dark pubescence on all abdominal sternites. The dark pubescence being near the side edges. The dark pubescence may be barely visible so these areas may appear glabrous next to the lighter (grey) pubescence.[2]

Life cycle

The female lays 1 to 25 eggs at a time. They are whitish and about 2 millimeters long. The eggs hatch in a few days, depending on temperature. Larval development also depends on temperature, as well as humidity and food availability. Each larva may proceed through six to nine instars, taking 19 to 50 days to grow to maximum size. It then pupates for several days. The adult lives for around 169 days, depending on temperature.[1]

Economic and scientific importance

The beetle attacks many types of stored food and other products. It has been found in cheese, dried fish, leather, copra, silk, wool, milk powder, incinerated waste,[1] hog bristles, dried mushrooms, cacao, and ginger.[3]

It is an occasional predator, feeding on live insects; it is a pest of the sericulture industry because it preys on silkworm pupae, damaging the silk cocoons in the process.[4] It also feeds on housefly (Musca domestica) larvae and pupae in places where both insects congregate, such as poultry houses.[5] The adult may cannibalize larvae and pupae of its own species, and the larvae may eat each other and the eggs.[1] It is also a scavenger of dead animals.[3] It is a pest of museum collections, such as dried insects.[1] It has been found living in and consuming human corpses, so it may play a role in forensic entomology.[6]

The beetle carries several parasites including chicken tapeworms, and are found inhabiting chicken coops where they can spread the parasites to the birds.[7]

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References
  1. Bujang, N. S. & Kaufman, P. E. Black larder beetle, incinerator beetle, Dermestes ater DeGeer (Insecta: Coleoptera: Dermestidae). Publication #EENY480, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) Extension. August 2010.
  2. Watford Coleoptera Group, Dermestes ater
  3. Roth, L. M., & Willis, E. R. (1950). The oviposition of Dermestes ater Degeer, with notes on bionomics under laboratory conditions. American Midland Naturalist 44(2) 427-447.
  4. Veer, V., Negi, B. K., & Rao, K. M. (1996). Dermestid beetles and some other insect pests associated with stored silkworm cocoons in India, including a world list of dermestid species found attacking this commodity. Journal of Stored Products Research, 32(1), 69-89.
  5. Menezes, L. C., Rossi, M. N., & Reigada, C. (2005). Consequences of refuge for the functional response of Dermestes ater (Coleoptera: Dermestidae) to Musca domestica (Diptera: Muscidae). Population Ecology, 47(3), 213-219.
  6. Kumara, T. K., et al. (2009). The infestation of Dermestes ater (De Geer) on a human corpse in Malaysia. Trop Biomed 26(1) 73-79
  7. Avancini, R. M., & Ueta, M. T. (1990). Manure breeding insects (Diptera and Coleoptera) responsible for cestoidosis in caged layer hens. Journal of Applied Entomology, 110(1‐5), 307-312.
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