Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
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Series Cucujiformia
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Tenebrionoidea
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Darkling Beetles (Tenebrionidae)
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Tenebrioninae
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Alphitobiini
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Alphitobius
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Lesser Mealworm (Alphitobius diaperinus)
Species
Alphitobius diaperinus
- Lesser Mealworm
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia (Animals)
Phylum
Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum
Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class
Insecta (Insects)
Order
Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder
Polyphaga
No Taxon
(Series Cucujiformia)
Superfamily
Tenebrionoidea
Family
Tenebrionidae (Darkling Beetles)
Subfamily
Tenebrioninae
Tribe
Alphitobiini
Genus
Alphitobius
Species
diaperinus
(Lesser Mealworm)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Cryptops ulomoides
Solier 1851
Explanation of Names
Alphitobius diaperinus
(Panzer 1797)
Size
5.8-6.3 mm
(
1
)
Range
of tropical (likely, Afrotropical) origin
(
2
)
, nearly cosmopolitan
(
3
)
; introduced from Europe before 1910
(
4
)
Habitat
damp and moldy flour, meal, grain products
(
3
)
; poultry houses (breeds in deep litter and in droppings)
(
2
)
Food
damp and moldy flour, meal, grain products
(
3
)
; larvae and adults also feed on dead animals
(
2
)
Remarks
Vector of many poultry pathogens
(
2
)
Internet References
Fact sheet
(Dunford & Kaufman 2006)
(
5
)
Works Cited
1.
Tenebrionoidea of South Carolina
Janet C. Ciegler. 2014. Clemson University.
2.
Beetles associated with stored products in Canada: An identification guide
Bousquet Y. 1990. Research Branch Agriculture Canada, Publication 1837.
3.
Handbook of urban insects and arachnids: A handbook of urban entomology
Robinson W.H. 2005. Cambridge University Press.
4.
The Tenebrionidae (Coleoptera) of the Maritime Provinces of Canada
Majka C.G., Bouchard P., Bousquet Y. 2008. Can. Entomol. 140: 690‒713.
5.
University of Florida: Featured Creatures
Contributed by
Ted Kropiewnicki
on 11 December, 2008 - 1:31pm
Additional contributions by
Beatriz Moisset
,
v belov
Last updated 18 December, 2018 - 10:47am