Species Anthrenus museorum - Museum Beetle

Cabinet Beetle

Anthrenus museorum (Linnaeus 1761)

2.2-3.6 mm

Bright scales of dorsal surface condensed on side margins of pronotum and forming three (usually narrow) fasciae on elytra. Eyes not notched in front, Antennae 8-segmented, with club of two segments. Antennal club considerably shorter than rest of antenna.

native to the Palaearctic, adventive in our area (ne. NA: NF-ON to CT-WI)(1) and elsewhere(2)

In some regions, esp. within its native range, lives primarily outdoors; larvae rarely in bird nests, usually in bee nests (feeding on moth pupae) and in spider nests in peridomestic habitats. In the sheet webs of Tegenaria domestica larvae are found in the egg sacs, feeding on eggs and spiders that failed to hatch; larvae crawl on the web without being attacked. Adults are active on flowers in sunlight, then become negatively phototactic and seek sheltered sites.(2)

attacks furs, woolens, carpets, silk, feathers, and skins; larvae have also been recorded feeding on grain, museum specimens, and dead insects(2)

The similarly coloured A. fuscus has 6-segmented antennae with one club segment only, as long or longer than the rest of the antenna.