Destructive flour beetle

The destructive or dark flour beetle (Tribolium destructor), one of the species of darkling beetle known generally as flour beetles, is a common pest insect known for attacking and infesting stored flour and grain.

Destructive flour beetle
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Tenebrionidae
Genus: Tribolium
Species:
T. destructor
Binomial name
Tribolium destructor
Uyttenboogaart, 1934

It is a very dark brown beetle (darker than other Tribolium species) 5–6 mm long. T. destructor is found in North America, Europe and Africa. In addition to damaging flour and grain, it attacks animal food pellets, rolled oats, and poultry feed.[1]

See also

  • Home stored product entomology

References

  1. Granousky TA. 1997. Stored Product Pests. In Handbook of Pest Control, 8th Ed. Hedges SA, Moreland D (editors). Mallis Handbook and Technical Training Company.
  • Tribolium species are hard to identify. Here are four species side by side. Note that several species of Tribolium may occur in the same infestation.Colpolon


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.