Latin: Niptus hololeucus. This spider beetle is studded with long golden hair. It infests the same types of products as the first two mentioned spider beetles. When occurring in a warehouse it is often because it has been able to eat dead insects, dry carrions or rodent droppings. The adult golden spider beetles do bite […]
Plaster beetles
Latin: Clavicornia spp. The name plaster beetle is an umbrella term for a part of the beetles of the genera Cryptophagus, Lathridius, Enicmus, Cartodere and Mycetaea. They are often considered as a group because they have a uniform biology, they are found in the same places and they all belong to the superfamily Clavicornia. Their […]
The smooth spider beetle
Latin: Gibbium psylloides The smooth spider beetle lacks hair and is rather reminiscent of a small glass drop that moves slowly around on its long legs. It occurs as a grain pest in warm countries such as India. Like the other spider beetles it can live of a wide range of dry animal and vegetable […]
Skin beetles
Skin beetles are consistently strong, arched beetles with oval or round body shapes. The surface is almost always covered with small, coloured hair or dandruff, which provides distinctive drawings. The larvae are covered with long hair of various kinds. Some of the hair is the cause of skin irritation in people. They feed primarily on […]
The saw-toothed grain beetle
Latin: Oryzaephilus surinamensis. 2.5 – 3.5 mm long, slender and brown-black. The distinctive features are the serrated growths on the prothorax side edges just behind the head. It cannot infest whole, undamaged kernels and it mainly eats seeds. In goods of cereal origin, flour and grain in particular, it is one of our most common […]
Grain beetles
Elongated small beetles, 2 – 3.5 mm long. The saw-toothed grain beetle, the merchant grain beetle and the rust-red grain beetle are primarily of interest. In addition to these, a large number of less known grain beetles exist, which are rare in Europe, which include Cryptolestes minutus (commonly known as the flat grain beetle or […]
Larder beetle larvae hairs.
Many of the beetle larvae that are common in Denmark, especially the larder beetle larvae (Dermestidae), have very crafty hair. Some larder beetle larvae have spines on their tale end. The spines end in something that resembles a harpoon with 4-6 long barbs and along the shaft are 30-40 shell crests of barbs facing upwards. […]
Beetles
Both adult beetles and their larvae have biting mouth parts. They can bite if you get them under your clothes or squeeze them. However, this rarely happens. The only Danish species, which bite humans on its own initiative, is the seven-spot ladybird, Coccinella septempunctata. Usually, this only happens, when the ladybirds are quite numerous and […]
Butterflies and beetles
Butterflies (Lepidoptera) and beetles (Coleoptera) are the animal orders which are richest in species. 140,000 different kinds of butterflies and 350,000 kinds of beetles are known, and a huge number of new species from the tropical rain forests are waiting to be discovered and described. Despite there being so man are no known blood-sucking butterflies […]
The masked hunter
The masked hunter, Reduvius personatus, is primarily found on attics, in outbuildings and similar places. The nymphs secrete a sticky substance which causes dust and dirt to stick to them. The adult masked hunter, on the other hand, is shiny, brownish animals. They are 1.5 cm long. Masked hunters are predatory insects and feed on […]
Cis boleti
A great number of different animals may be brought into the house with cut flowers and other garden produce, and there is seldom any doubt about where they come from. It is however particularly annoying when a house or flat is suddenly found to be teeming with these small, dark beetles. The larvae live in […]
Callidium violaceum
This is probably the species that is most commonly seen in the house; though not as serious a pest as the house longhorn (p. 135). It lays eggs exclusively in softwood, and only in dead or felled timber that still has its bark on. The larvae live in the growth layer and if the bark […]
Longhorn beetles
( Latin: Cerambycidae ) These are mostly quite large beetles, often with very long antennae. The larvae of the different species, which are difficult to distinguish from one another, are pale, plump, rather flat, and broadest towards the head which has powerful, dark jaws. The females lay their eggs in bark crevices or splits in the […]
Bark beetles
( Latin: Scolytidae ) These are small, cylindrical beetles with a large thorax. They can be distinguished from the furniture beetles by their angled antennae. The adults emerge in the spring and search for diseased or newly felled trees, where they gnaw their way into the bark. After mating the female makes a tunnel in the bark […]
Powder post beetles
( Latin: Lyctidae ) These beetles are very slender, brown and 2-5 mm long. They are particularly associated with deciduous trees that have large vessels, e.g. oak, ash, walnut, and with many tropical species, as well as bamboo. The female usually lays her eggs in the sapwood in the vessels themselves. The larvae feed on the […]
Fan-bearing wood-borer
( Latin: Ptilinus pectinicornis ) This species, which is not as common as the other wood-boring beetles, mainly infests deciduous trees, e.g. beech, birch, oak. It is easily recognizable by the large, comb-like antennae. Unlike the other wood-borers here the adult beetle also gnaws timber. The wood dust is very fine and similar to that produced […]
Death-watch beetle
( Latin: Xestobium rufovillosum ) This is one of the larger wood-boring beetles. The female lays up to 50 eggs in April-May. In structural timber the larvae may take 5-10 years to complete their development. They pupate in the autumn and metamorphosis to the adult takes place a few weeks later. As in the preceding species […]
Common furniture beetle
( Latin: Anobium punctatum ) This is a very common pest of timber and furniture and is or has been present in most old houses. The adult beetles emerge during the summer months by gnawing their way out from the infected timber through circular exit-holes. It is at this time that wood dust falls out of […]
Furniture beetles
( Latin: Anobiidae ) The larvae of these beetles live mainly in timber. The adults are very small and brownish with an almost cylindrical body. It is typical that the thorax is arched to form a hood which almost conceals the head. The larvae of the different species of furniture beetle are soft, curved, with very […]
Spider beetles
(Latin: Family Ptinidae) As mentioned on p. 75 these beetles attack a little of everything and they do not go out of their way to gnaw textiles. Their gnawing activities can normally be recognized by the small, regular, round holes and the absence of silk.
Carpet beetle
( Latin: Attagenus pellio) This beetle is easy to recognize for it has a white spot on each of the otherwise black elytra. The adults fly around outside during the summer and. land on flowers where they feed on nectar and pollen. They often find their way indoors. The eggs are normally laid in the […]
Khapra beetle
( Latin: Trogoderma granarium) Khapra beetles came originally from India. They often congregate in large numbers in the cracks and crevices of walls in warehouses. Unlike the preceding dermestids this beetle feeds mainly on plant material. It has now spread to almost all tropical and subtropical regions and those areas where it has not appeared […]
Beetles
(Latin: Order Coleoptera) This is by far the largest of the insect groups, so it is not surprising that it has numerous representatives that attack foodstuffs. Normally it is the adult beetles that are first observed, but it is the larvae that do the damage and they must be found and dealt with.