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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Series Cucujiformia » Coccinelloidea » Coccinellid group » Minute Brown Scavenger Beetles (Latridiidae) » Latridiinae » Dienerella » subgenus Dienerella (Dienerella subgenus Dienerella) » Common Plaster Beetle (Dienerella filum)

Species Dienerella filum - Common Plaster Beetle

Classification · Explanation of Names · Size · Range · Habitat · Food · Remarks · Internet References · Works Cited

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Coleoptera (Beetles)

Suborder Polyphaga

No Taxon (Series Cucujiformia)

Superfamily Coccinelloidea

No Taxon (Coccinellid group)

Family Latridiidae (Minute Brown Scavenger Beetles)

Subfamily Latridiinae

Genus Dienerella

No Taxon (subgenus Dienerella)

Species filum (Common Plaster Beetle)

Explanation of Names

Dienerella filum (Aubé 1850)

Size

1.2–1.6 mm(1)

Range

native to the Palaearctic, adventive in the New World; in our area, across so. Canada and n. US (south to NY-AR-CO-CA)(2)

Habitat

stored grains, mouldy organic matter (often bread)(2), in areas near water pipes, around leaky windows, under moldy wallpaper(1), in herbaria(3)

Food

hyphae and spores of filamentous fungi; spores of the slime moulds(2)

Remarks

potential pest of air-conditioning and refrigeration systems(4); adults cannot crawl on smooth or vertical surfaces, and often get trapped in sinks/tubs(1)

earliest NA record: before 1899 (MI, NY, ON, CO)(2)

Internet References

Fact sheet by C. McLellan(5)

Works Cited

1.	Handbook of urban insects and arachnids: A handbook of urban entomology Robinson W.H. 2005. Cambridge University Press.

2.	Latridiidae (Coleoptera) of Atlantic Canada: New records, keys to identification, new synonyms, distribution, and zoogeography Majka C.G., Langor D., Rücker W.H. 2009. The Canadian Entomologist 141: 317‒370.

3.	Alien terrestrial arthropods of Europe Roques A., Kenis M., Lees D., Lopez-Vaamonde C., Rabitsch W., Rasplus J.-Y., Roy D., eds. 2010. BioRisk 4 Special Issue; 2 vols., 1028 pp.

4.	Beetles associated with stored products in Canada: An identification guide Bousquet Y. 1990. Research Branch Agriculture Canada, Publication 1837.

5.	PaDIL – High quality images and information tools designed for Biosecurity and Biodiversity

Contributed by v belov on 9 January, 2010 - 2:23pm
Last updated 3 March, 2014 - 10:44pm

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