European larger cabinet beetle
Trogoderma versicolor (Creutzer)

Order: Coleoptera
Family: Dermestidae
Acronym: TVE

Ecology

The European larger cabinet beetle is found throughout Europe, Northern Asia and Northern Africa. It is not found in Canada. It is a scavenger. Both adults and larvae feed on animal and plant material. It will infest insect collections in museums. It is found in seeds, grain, rice, wheat, corn and nuts. The European larger cabinet beetle looks very similar to other Trogoderma species.

Damage

The European larger cabinet beetle is a generalist feeder. The damage is not distinctive and is caused by larvae feeding. A sign of infestation is contamination of the commodity with cast larval skins. It is known to be a pest of museums. Damage to insect collections is caused by larval feeding.

Life history

The adult is bicoloured. It is mostly brown with lighter brown markings on the elytra and patches of white and orange hairs. It is oval and is 2 – 5 mm long. It is short-lived; the adult lives 20-30 days.

The larva is oval-shaped and covered in dense hairs. It is whitish yellow when young and reddish brown when mature. There are tufts of short dense hairs located on the last abdominal segments. The larva moults many times during development. Under adverse conditions, it will moult even more. It can enter a state of diapause if the environment is unsuitable for development. The larva pupates in the last larval skin.

Control

Controlling insect infestations

Images

Adult European larger cabinet beetle