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You are here: Home / Food Pests / The various species / Spider beetles / The Australian spider beetle

The Australian spider beetle

Latin: Ptinus tectus.

The Australian spider beetle
The Australian spider beetle
Season for Australian spider beetle
Season for Australian spider beetle

Originates from the temperate zone of the southern hemisphere, namely Tasmania and New Zealand. It came to Europe around the year 1900, and found itself so comfortable on the northern hemisphere, that it drove away the more common, white-marked spider beetle. It is now widespread all over the world. The adult beetle is 3-4 mm long and reddish brown. Elytrons are densely covered with short hair. The larvae are 3-5 mm long, yellowish white with dark heads.

They are curved and have small legs. An adult female lays about 1000 eggs in a lifetime. The eggs are sticky and are laid on the things larvae can live on, that is, all kinds of dried plants: corn, feed, flour, grains, cocoa, spices and herbal substances. MBM is also suitable. On ceilings and empty warehouses, Australian spider beetles can live of insect remains as well as mouse and rat droppings. Australian spider beetles can also live in birds’ nests and dry carrion. When the larvae have become so big that they are ready to pupate, they leave the food. They can, just as the adults, chew through packaging to get out. The holes they leave are circular. The larvae seek out a sheltered spot where they spin a whitish tissue paper-like cocoon and pupate. Sometimes they eat the substrate, for example, in wood to make the right spot for the cocoon.

Australian spider beetle
Australian spider beetle

Australian spider beetles thrive at temperatures around 24 ° C. Below 10 ° C development and reproduction stops. The adult beetles are active at lower temperatures, down to 2 ° C. At room temperature, development from egg to adult lasts 3-4 months. At lower temperatures, it will take longer time. Adult spider beetles are shady and nocturnal. They infest the same types of products as the larvae, but – unlike those – also infest woollen textiles.

Food Pests
Introduction
An old problem
Competition for food
Pests can ruin stored goods
Why not just eat the insects
Some insects are unhealthy to eat
Allergy to pests
Transmission of infectious diseases
Where do pests come from?
Synanthrope species
(1) The house dust mite and the sugar mite
(2) The firebrat and the silverfish
(3) The German cockroach and the forest cockroach
(4) The rust-red flour beetle and the confused flour beetle
(5) The merchant grain beetle and the saw-toothed grain beetle
(6) The cigarette beetle and the drugstore beetle
(7) The rice weevil and the granary weevil
(8) The pharaoh ant and the common black ant
History of the dark flour beetle
Pests in bird’s nests
Mould fauna
The Look and Behaviour of pests
Insect appearance
Internal
Insect development
Insect senses
Behaviour
Water and Moisture
Temperature
What insects live off and live in
The Air
Mites
Bug Indentification
The various species
Mites
The flour mite
The sugar mite
The common house mite
The Lardoglyphus zacheri
The prune mite
The cheese mite
The house dust mite
The Cheyletus eruditus
Silverfish
The Silverfish
The firebrat
Cockroaches
The German cockroach
The Oriental cockroach
The brown-banded cockroach
The American cockroach
The extermination of cockroaches
Crickets
Earwigs
Booklice
Butterflies
The Mediterranean flour moth
The warehouse moth
Tropical warehouse moth
The brown house moth
The Indian meal moth
Grain beetles
The saw-toothed grain beetle
The merchant grain beetle
The rust-red grain beetle
Flour beetles
The yellow mealworm beetle
The lesser mealworm beetle
The dark flour beetle
The confused flour beetle
The rust-red flour beetle
The bolting cloth beetle
Furniture beetles
The drugstore beetle
The cigarette beetle
Bostrychidae
The lesser grain borer
True weevils snout beetles
The granary weevil
The rice weevil
The corn weevil
Bean weevils
The common bean weevil
The coffee bean weevil
Skin beetles
The bacon beetle
The dermestid beetle
The leather beetle
The khapra beetle
The reesa vespulae
Chequered beetles
The red-legged ham beetle
The red-breasted copra beetle
The black-legged ham beetle
Spider beetles
The Australian spider beetle
The white-marked spider beetle
The golden spider beetle
The smooth spider beetle
Plaster beetles
Flies
The common house fly
The lesser house fly
Blowflies
The grey flesh fly
The cheese skipper
Fruit flies
Hymenoptera
The common black ant
The pharaoh ant
Wasps
Birds
The domestic pigeon
The house sparrow
Prevention and control of birds
Rodents
The house mouse
The yellow-necked mouse
Mouse prevention
Mouse control
The brown rat
The black rat
Rat prevention
Rat control
Imaginary pests
Niches of food pests
A: The Waste Niche
B: The seed niche
C: The dead plant niche
D: The sugary excrement niche
E: The carrion niche
Prevention and Control, Integrated Control
A. Inspection of the company and its environment
The environment
The premises
Examination of raw materials and food on site
Sampling
Laboratory methods for detection of pests in food
B. Statement of the problem
C. Prevention and control
1. Proper organisation of the company
2. Proper operation
3. Exclusion, proofing buildings
4. Packaging
5. Non-chemical control measures
6. Chemical control
D: Effective monitoring and communication
Practical information
Index

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