Black carpet beetle

Classification

Secondary pest; Grain feeder and scavenger
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Dermestidae
Acronym: AUN

Description

• Adults are uniformly dark brown to black with dark or gold brown hairs.
• Adults fly, are 2.8 to 3.0 mm long and are short lived.
• Larvae are reddish-brown in color reaching a length of 6 to 8 mm.
• Larvae have a tuft of brown hairs at the posterior end.

Similar species

• Alphitobius species
• Dermestes species
• Trogoderma species

Commodities affected

• Feeds on dried plant and animal material
• Can feed on household items including wool articles, some synthetic fibres, cereal products and dried pet food
• Also feeds on barley, peanuts, bran, ground maize, alfalfa meal
• May be a pest in museums, attacking hides, furs, insect specimens, wool articles, oilseeds

Signs of infestation

• Holes in commodity
• Contamination with cast larval skins

Damage

• Damages products by feeding and burrowing in material

How to control

• Control grain insect pests

Geographic range

• Is distributed worldwide and found across Canada

Where found

• Found in grain storage in grain dust, debris and spilled grain

Life history

• Beetle can overwinter as either an adult or in the larval stage.
• Developmental temperature ranges from 2^o to 25^oC.
• Larvae can enter diapause (a dormant state during which development slows or stops) if developmental conditions are unsuitable (low temperatures, short day length, low population densities).