Common bacon beetle
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Common bacon beetle ( Dermestes lardarius ) |
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| Dermestes lardarius | ||||||||||||
| Linnaeus , 1758 |
The common bacon beetle ( Dermestes lardarius ) is a beetle from the family of bacon beetles (Dermestidae).
features
Common bacon beetles are 7 to 9.5 millimeters long and have an elongated, oval, completely scaled body. The head, pronotum and the posterior half of the wings are black, with irregular, small, light spots, the anterior half of the wings are dirty white to beige in color. In this light area, there are three dark to reddish points in the middle of each wing half, with the middle one being offset slightly backwards. Along the edge of the pronotum, an area of the same color can also be seen on both cover wings, which ends shortly before the scutellum . The short antennae are colored red and thicken into a club at the end.
The larvae are about twice as long as the adults and have a slender body. They have numerous, long bristles.
Occurrence
Common bacon beetles are common all over the world and are among the cultural successors . You can find them from the lowlands to high altitudes that are still inhabited by humans. They inhabit almost exclusively human settlements, there mainly buildings such as warehouses. In nature they occur in bird nests, beehives and in the sludge of deciduous trees.
Way of life
The beetles and larvae feed on a wide variety of organic substances, such as B. wool, textiles, supplies, animal remains, etc. They are primarily noticeable inside the apartment through the resulting damage, as they themselves tend to work more hidden. The larvae are primarily responsible for the damage. They can also cause damage in zoological collections. But they are also well suited for the preparation of animal skeletons.
The larvae molt five times before they mostly pupate in the wood. The overwintering takes place as a larva.
Side view
Common bacon beetle larva
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literature
- Harde, Severa: Der Kosmos Käferführer, The Central European Beetles , Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-440-06959-1
- Jiři Zahradnik, Irmgard Jung, Dieter Jung et al .: Käfer Central and Northwestern Europe , Parey Berlin 1985, ISBN 3-490-27118-1
