Red-legged beetle

Red-legged beetle
Red-legged beetle shortly before take-off
Systematics
Order : Beetle (Coleoptera) Subordination : Polyphaga Family : Colored Beetle (Cleridae) Subfamily : Korynetinae Genre : Necrobia Type : Red-legged beetle
Scientific name
Necrobia rufipes
( De Geer , 1775)

The red-legged beetle ( Necrobia rufipes ), also called copra beetle or red-legged ham beetle, is a beetle from the family of the beetles and the subfamily Korynetinae . The three species of the genus Necrobia can all also be found in Central Europe and can be easily distinguished by their color. However, there is a risk of confusion with species of the genus Korynetes .

The widespread beetle is not considered endangered in Germany. It is important as a food pest on fish, meat products and copra and plays a role in forensic entomology . The fact that the beetle has been found in Egyptian mummies on various occasions throws another interesting light on it. One problem is the destruction of populations that have taken up residence in museums.

Notes on the name

The species name rufipes (from Latin “rūfus” for “red” and “pēs” for “leg”) names the red legs of the species, like the first part of the German name, by which the beetles differ from the blue beetle . The generic name Necróbia is after Schenkling from Altgr. νεκρός nekrós, dead and βίος. bíos, place of residence and means that the representatives of the genus live on or in animal materials. According to French sources, the name (nekrós the dead, βίος. Bíos life, "the life of the dead") pays tribute to the fact that the beetle Necrobia ruficollis saved the life of the French entomologist Latreille . Latreille was one of the conservative Catholic clergy who refused to recognize the civil constitution of the clergy during the French Revolution and he was to be deported to French Guiana for this. In 1794 in the prison of Bordeaux he found the beetle, still unknown to him and described by Fabricius in 1775 as Dermestes ruficollis , and on the basis of the find he was able to establish a connection with the young coleopterologist Bory de Saint-Vincent via the prison doctor . With the involvement of various personalities, this succeeded in obtaining the release of Latreille at the last minute. Latreille had already been taken to a ship and was able to get off it on a rowboat just before it sank, killing all of the prisoners. When viewing the collection of Fabricius, Latreille separated some species, to which Dermestes ruficollis also belongs as a new genus Necrobia from the genus Dermestes . He published the name Necrobia in 1796, marked it with a star as a new genus and placed it behind the genus Clerus . His friend and patron Olivier took over the name, mentioning Latreilles as the author, as early as 1795 and put Necrobia together with Clerus under number 76.

The part of the name "hambeetle" can be explained by the fact that the species became harmful to a large extent on pork ham, mainly in North America. The name copra beetle can be traced back to its massive occurrence in warmer climates on the core meat of coconuts. The part of the name "piston beetle" can be explained by its piston-shaped antennae and its affiliation with the beetles.

The species first described by De Geer in 1775 under the name Clerus rufipes has numerous synonyms :

• Necrobia aspera Walker 1858
• Necrobia cupreonitens Lauffer 1905
• Tenebrio dermestoides Piller & Mitterpacher
• Corynetes flavipes Clever 1842
• Corynetes glabra Jurin apud Champollion 1814
• Necrobia mumiarum Hope 1834
• Necrobia pilifera Reitter 1894
• Corynetes reticulata Klug 1882
• Necrobia amethystina Stephens 1832
• Necrobia foveicollis Schenkling 1900

The form Necrobia pilifera (from Latin “pílus” for “hair” and “fero” for “I carry”) describes only the females, who differ from the males by their bristle-like hairs.

Characteristics of the beetle

Fig.1: Top view ♂	Fig.2: Head from the front
Fig.3: Bottom	Fig.4: Side view
Fig. 5: Detail of the elytra hair , above double hair in the female, below single hair in the male, (end of the body on the right)
Fig.6: Sensor	Fig.7: Hind tarsus, limbs differently colored

The beetle is only four to five millimeters long, the males are on average slightly smaller than the females. The beetle is about three times as long as it is wide. It reaches its greatest width in the last quarter of the body. The upper side is metallic blue to blue-green or green, the legs and the antennae root pale yellow to red-brown, the underside blue-black (Fig. 3). The pronotum and the elytra are moderately dense, the head less densely punctured . The hairiness of the wing covers differs in males and females.

The absent-mindedly dotted triangular head with the bulging eyes is lowered and slightly retracted into the pronotum. The end link of the jaw probe is not ax -shaped like in Korynetes , but spindle-shaped and truncated (can be seen in Fig. 2). The end link of the lip switch is also spindle-shaped to cylindrical and trimmed. The eleven-part antennae (Fig. 6) are red-brown at the base, then become increasingly darker and end in a three-part, black, broad club. The tip of the end link is slightly outlined, about the same width as it is long and roughly twice as large as the penultimate antennae.

The pronotum is laterally uniformly convex and wider than it is long. At the front it is about as wide as the head behind the eyes and significantly wider at the base than the head measured above the eyes. The base and sides of the pronotum are bordered. The rear corners are bluntly rounded, the base slightly convexly curved. The moderately coarse puncture is scattered and denser on the sides than on the disc.

The elytra are collectively wider than the pronotum, widen only slightly towards the shoulders and reach the greatest width in the rear half. They end together in a rounded semi-circle. Eight to nine rows of dots can be distinct or extinguished. The spaces between them are fairly dense and finely dotted. In the males, the hair is simple and consists of dark hair bristles inclined backwards (Fig. 5 below), in the female it is double. He has lighter hairs leaning back more closely between upright black hair bristles (Fig. 5 above). Experimental evidence suggests that the males recognize the females by the erect black hairs on the elytra. In addition, the hairiness of the females helps the males to maintain this position more easily after taking up the copulation position. The label is transverse and narrow.

The hairy legs are red-brown. The tarsi are all five-limbed, but appear four-limbed because the fourth limb (red in Fig. 7) is small and is hidden in the cavity of the third limb at the base of the claw limb. The first to third tarsal links have lamellar pads on the underside. The long claws have tooth-like appendages at the base.

The male's sexual apparatus was described by Özdemir and Sert.

larva

The larvae (pictures under web links) are elongated and moderately hairy. You have three jointed pairs of legs. Only the head, the legs, the upper side of the first breast segment and the first abdomen segment and part of the last abdomen segment are sclerotized and brown, the rest of the body is soft-skinned. The upper lip is three times as wide as it is long. The upper jaws do not have a toothed inner margin. The lower jaw is only slightly retracted under the head. Cardo and stipes are about the same size. The end of the abdomen has a pair of pincers-shaped appendages (urogomph) bent upwards, the branches of which form an angle of sixty degrees. The urogomph arises from a sclerotized plate that does not cover the base of the last abdominal sternite and has no appendages (pregomph) in front of the urogomph. It is 1.5 times as wide as it is long. In the last stage, the larva reaches a length of ten millimeters. In America the larva is called "paperworm" in circles of the meat industry.

egg

The banana-shaped eggs are almost a millimeter long with a diameter of about a quarter of a millimeter. They are slightly curved, smooth, shiny, somewhat translucent and stick to the surface. After a few days, the pigmentation of the embryonic eyes and mouthparts and the ends of the body becomes visible. The eggs of older females often collapse laterally within a few hours and do not develop any further.

biology

Occurrence

The adults are often found together with the blue beetle . The animals can fly and so look for places suitable for reproduction. They land close to the object and crawl towards it. The beetles usually move nimbly. If touched, they can pretend to be dead for a short time. If they are held, they give off a very unpleasant odor, which does not last long. They are shy and seek the dark, but can be accustomed to light in the laboratory by feeding them.

The species is found in warm climates outdoors on cadavers or in the ground that has been soaked by decomposition products, but also often in garbage dumps, in gardens, in warehouses, silos or in houses. The larvae develop in an environment with animal or vegetable fat and become harmful in many ways. The species can be found, for example, on jerky meat, bacon, dried fish , smoked fish, bone meal, cheese, dried egg yolk, cashew nuts , copra or kernels of the oil palm , dried figs, animal feed or on collection items in museums. The beetles can also destroy the silkworm's cocoons . The names ham beetles and copra beetles indicate the harmfulness. The beetle has also been found several times inside Egyptian mummies , particularly in the skull. The oldest documented site is the grave of Ramses II in Egypt .

nutrition

The beetles, like the larvae, are both predatory and scavenger. In the case of the beetles, cannibalism was also observed on their own eggs or larvae. If food is deprived, the adult animals die after two to three weeks. One adult male lived in the laboratory for 430 days.

General development

The eggs are laid in groups in crevices on the substrate surface and stick there. The eggs are laid in the dark, the crevices are chosen so narrow that the males cannot penetrate with their upper jaws. There are contradicting figures about the number of eggs, but under favorable conditions it can be very high (over two thousand).

Embryonic development is complete after a few days. With violent movements, the tubercles on the larva’s abdomen break open the egg shell at one end, while at the other end the egg is bitten open with the jaws. The larva often remains in the egg shell for a few hours and eats off. After hatching, the larva usually eats up the remains of the egg completely. It also nibbles on neighboring eggs and egg shells. The larvae then bore into the substrate or, if possible, hide themselves.

Healthy larvae can move relatively quickly. Fly maggots are overwhelmed by the beetle larva biting into them. The maggot tries to throw the beetle larva away with violent movements, but the larva rarely lets go, but usually waits until the maggot is exhausted. As a rule, three to four larval stages can be distinguished.

To pupate, the larvae crawl into crevices in the substrate or they leave the substrate and crawl nearby. Then they make a cocoon, which takes about a day. First the openings of the gap are closed with a white secretion, which the larva vomits in small frothy droplets, then the entire chamber is lined. The larva is very targeted. The droplets are released individually and quickly harden to form a vesicle-shaped mass. Only then does the larva add the next droplet at a suitable point and systematically wall up the crevice. Usually the larva lies curved in the chamber, if there is enough space, it can also be stretched.

A few days after completion of the pupa chamber, the larva shortens. The head assumes a rigid posture at right angles to the body axis (prepuppet). After a few days, the larval skin bursts and the prepupa sheds its skin into a pupa. This can only move the abdomen. The wriggling movement of the abdomen transports the old larval skin to the tip of the abdomen, where it gets stuck. Unprotected pupae are eaten without hesitation by adult beetles, which also try to penetrate the pupa chamber. Pre-pupal stage and pupal stage are about the same length, together an average of 13 days.

About two days after the imago has hatched and colored, it bites an irregular hole in the pupa shell and leaves it. Mating takes place as soon as two sexual partners meet. During the long period of oviposition, mating takes place several times. In the laboratory, mated females can, however, continue to lay eggs for several months even in the absence of males.

In the laboratory at 30 ° C and a humidity of 80% and alternating between eight hours of light and 16 hours without light, the females laid between 72 and 107 eggs, which hatched after about 4 days. The larval development lasted between 27 and 37 days, the pupal stage on average almost ten days. Females live between 21 and a hundred days, males on average a little shorter (49.5 days). In a further experiment, five larval stages could be distinguished, which covered a period of about sixty days. This was followed by a prepupal stage lasting two to five days. The pupal stage lasted just over six days. Eggs and young larvae were eaten by a species of mite. Bacteria and fungi were found on diseased larvae.

In Japan in December, adults, last-instar larvae, and earlier-instar larvae were collected and then bred. The results showed that in central Japan the species can produce two generations a year, with the first generation adults appearing in May and June and the second generation appearing from September to November. The overwintering then takes place as a larva.

Damage from copra

The experiments to develop the beetle on copra show that its breeding in the presence of animal food is much more successful than on fresh and clean copra. By adding crushed larvae of the beetle Carpophilus dimidiatus , the egg-laying of the females was significantly increased, and the development time of larva and pupa was reduced to almost half. The most favorable conditions for the development of Necrobia rufipes were in test series at 30 ° C and 64% to 70% humidity and the presence of Carpophilus diminiatus . The development from larva to beetle then took an average of a little under 38 days, while in the absence of Carpophilus the development took an average of 66 days under favorable conditions; under unfavorable conditions the animals could not complete the development to the imago.

The larva enters the copra almost exclusively for the purpose of pupation. This and a comparison of the frequency of the beetle in different conditions of the substrate (degree of freshness, degree of moisture, degree of soiling) suggest that the beetle primarily predates copra and should therefore be seen more as an annoying insect and not as a pest. The degree of benefit from killing other insect larvae is unknown.

There is an indirect connection between the molds of the genus Aspergillus and the development of the beetle. The mushrooms appear when the copra is not sufficiently dried. In the presence of the fungi, the beetle Carpophilus dimitiatus appear among other fungus eaters . As already mentioned, its larvae belong to the food spectrum of the red-legged piston beetle. The copra beetle appears less often on sufficiently dried copra.

Damage to dried fish

The adults approach either flying or crawling. They feed on the surface. Eggs are laid in cracks in the skin. The larvae dig deep into the fish meat. They eat both the fish meat and the larvae of different species of flies and the larvae of different species of the beetle genus Dermestes . One can distinguish three to four larval stages. The last larval stage creates a cocoon inside the fish or in a crevice outside the fish. The development to the imago takes six weeks or longer, depending on the food supply, temperature and humidity. The optimum for rapid development is between 30 and 34 ° C. Development is no longer possible below 22 ° C, at over 40 ° C new infestation is unlikely and the infestation does not increase. Under favorable conditions for the beetle, the infestation can increase to about twenty-five times within a month.

The infestation by the beetle leads to a loss of mass of the fish meat, as well as a change in the consistency of the fish and a reduction in quality due to larval skins and other insect remains. The damage naturally increases with the length of storage. If the fish is infected with larvae of the genus Dermestes at the same time , the damage caused by Dermestes is significantly more serious than the damage caused by the ham beetle.

The first attack can be prevented or at least made more difficult by appropriate packaging. Cooling, more drying, salting or temperatures above 45 ° C prevent or reduce the infestation.

Damage to meat products

The beetle occurs when the water content of the meat is considerably reduced through drying (dried meat) or smoking. In 44 pairs, an average of over a thousand eggs were counted per female in the experiment. The beetles only eat superficially, the larvae penetrate the food. At first their feeding ducts are under the skin. Later they penetrate deeper mainly into the fatty parts of the meat.

The species prefers certain fly larvae over the bacon itself and is therefore quite useful. If only larvae of the cheese fly Piophila casei or only bacon are offered to the larvae as food, the breeding successes are minimal. However, good breeding success was achieved when bacon, fly eggs and fly larvae were available together as food. To pupate, the larva stops feeding and leaves the infected meat.

If the infestation is discovered early, the affected parts can usually be cut out.

Damage to cultural property

Infested museum objects have so far been treated successfully by exposing them to bromomethane in sealed containers . However, since this gas damages the ozone layer , alternatives are being sought.

Fumigation experiments with sulfuryl fluoride for the destruction of established populations in museums showed that pupae and imagines were already released at a concentration of 4.7 g / m³, larvae at a concentration of 5.7 g / m³, and eggs only at a concentration of 24 g / m³ 100% killed within 48 hours. On the other hand, the mite Tyrophagus putreminiae could not be completely destroyed even at over four times the concentration. With bromomethane, on the other hand, the eggs reacted more sensitively to fumigation than the larvae. Fumigation with monophosphane was also very effective, but overall the good results for bromomethane were not achieved in both cases. Fumigation with ozone or carbon dioxide is not effective.

Forensic Notes

After Dermestes maculatus , Necrobia rufipes is usually the most common beetle on carcasses in warmer climates. In warm weather it appears from the 6th day after death. Depending on the season and circumstances, this initial colonization can occur during or after the stage of glycolytic fermentation . The species remains on the carcass even after the fly larvae have eaten the carcass down to bones, cartilage, tissue remnants, feathers or hair. Necrobia rufipes is one of the most individual insect species on the carrion.

The minimum temperature for successful development is assumed to be 18 ° C, but pupation of a larva at 17 ° C was observed, which was able to develop into an imago in the laboratory. Dolls are often found in the ground under the corpses.

In morgues just a few minutes are enough to infect a corpse with Necrobia rufipes .

distribution

The species is distributed worldwide today. Originally it probably comes from the tropics. The specimen for the first description comes from Suriname in South America and bears the French name “Clairon exotique”, meaning “exotic colored beetle”. Olivier gives 1795 as sites of discovery in southern France , Senegal and the Cape of Good Hope . 1804 was given as the distribution area in southern France and Italy, in 1804 the species was reported from London as "usually rare, in some years often". The presence in Australia and the USA is explained by procrastination. In Central Europe, it is unlikely to reproduce outdoors in cooler areas, but the beetle is constantly being introduced.

literature

• Heinz Joy, Karl Wilhelm Harde, Gustav Adolf Lohse: The beetles of Central Europe . tape 6 : Diversicornia . Spectrum, Heidelberg 1979, ISBN 3-87263-027-X .
• Klaus Koch : The Beetles of Central Europe Ecology . 1st edition. tape 2 . Goecke & Evers, Krefeld 1989, ISBN 3-87263-040-7 .
• Edmund Reitter : Fauna Germanica, the beetles of the German Empire III. Volume, KGLutz 'publishing house, Stuttgart 1911

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Necrobia rufipes in Fauna Europaea. Retrieved December 22, 2012
2. ↑ Necrobia at Fauna Europaea. Retrieved December 18, 2012
3. ↑ ARGE SWD Coleopterologists, profile on Art
4. ↑ Sigmund Schenkling: Explanation of the scientific beetle names (species)
5. ↑ Sigmund Schenkling: Explanation of the scientific beetle names (genus)
6. ↑ Latreille: Précis des caractères générique des insectes disposés dans un ordre naturel F. Bourdeaux, 1796 as PDF
7. ↑ ^{a b} Olivier: Entomologie, ou Histoire naturelle des insects Coleoptéres Tome quatrième Paris 1795 as PDF, see N ° 76
8. ↑ Luc Auber: Coléoptères de France Fascicule II Edition N.Boubée & Cie, Paris 1953
9. ↑ Necrobie in the French online lexicon ( Memento of the original from June 30, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
10. ^ ^{A b} First description in Charles de Geer: Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire des insectes Hesselberg Stockholm 1775 Scan of the first description
11. ↑ Edmund Reitter : Fauna Germanica, the beetles of the German Empire III. Volume, KGLutz 'publishing house, Stuttgart 1911
12. ↑ HITCHCOCK, W. STEPHEN: A Possible Means of Sex Recognition in Necrobia rufipes Annals of the Entomological Society of America, Volume 56, Number 2, March 1963, pp. 244–245 (2)
13. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m} Perez Simmons, George W. Ellington: The Ham Beetle, Necrobia rufipes DE GEER Journal of Agricultural Research Vol. XXX, No. 9 pp. 845 - 863 May 1925 as PDF
14. ↑ Senem Özdemir and Osman Sert: Systematic Studies on Male Genitalia of Coleoptera Species Found on Decomposing Pig (Sus Scrofa L.) Carcasses at Ankara Province Hacettepe J. Biol. & Chem., 2008, 36 (2), 137-161
15. ↑ J. Richard Gorham (Ed.): Insect and Mite Pests in Food United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Handbook No. 655, 1991 as PDF
16. ↑ ^{a b c d} CP Haines, David P. Rees: Field Guide to the Types of Insects and Mites Infesting Cured Fish FAO (Food and Agriculture organization of the United Nations) 1989, ISBN 92-5-102827-3
17. ↑ Dirceu Pratissoli: Ocorrência de Necrobia rufipes (De Geer) (Coleoptera: Cleridae) atacando castanha de caju proveniente da Índia An. Soc. Entomol. Bras. vol. 26 no.3 Londrina Dec. 1997 as PDF
18. ↑ Yan, X., Zhou, H., Shen, Z., Li, W., Guo, D., Song, Y., Lan, S., Zhang, J .: National investigations of stored grain arthropods in China 10th International Working Conference on Stored Product Protection doi: 10.5073 / jka.2010.425.145 as PDF
19. ↑ Heinz Freude , Karl Wilhelm Harde , Gustav Adolf Lohse (ed.): Die Käfer Mitteleuropas (=  Käfer Mitteleuropas . Volume  1 : Introduction to Beetle Science ). 1st edition. Goecke & Evers, Krefeld 1965, ISBN 3-8274-0675-7 .
20. ↑ Bernhard Klausnitzer: Wonderful world of the beetles . Herder Verlag Freiburg ISBN 3-451-19630-1
21. ↑ Christoph Reichmutz: Storage pests and storage protection through the ages in contributions to the Göttingen Environmental History Colloquium 2008–2009 by Bernd Herrmann (ed.), Universitätsverlag Göttingen 2009
22. ^ ^{A b} PA Edde, M. Eaton, SA Kells, Th. W. Phillips: Biology, Behavior, and Ecology of Pests in Other Durable Commodities K-State (Kansas State University) Research and Extension 5th chapter as PDF
23. ↑ Dorothy Gennard: Forensic Entomology - An Introduction 2nd Edition John Wiley & Sons 2012, ISBN 978-0-470-68902-8
24. ↑ MJP Canete, DPGapasin: Biology of the copra beetle, Necrobia rufipes de Geer [in the Philippines] Philippine Journal of Coconut Studies (Dec 1980) Vol 5 (2) pp. 33-38 ISSN  0115-3463
25. ↑ TSUJI HIDEAKIRA: Seasonal life cycle of the red-legged ham beetle, Necrobia rufipes (DEGEER), in an unheated room in Central Japan Pestology VOL.21; NO.1; PAGE.5-8 (2006) ISSN  1880-3415 abstract as PDF ( memento of the original from January 6, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
26. ^ F. Ashman: Factors affecting the abundance of the copra beetle, Necrobia rufipes (Deg.) (Col., Cleridae) Bulletin of Entomological Research Vol. 53 Issue 04 January 1963, pp. 671-680 doi: 10.1017 / S0007485300048422 .
27. ↑ MB Zipagan, EP Pacumbaba: More facts about Necrobia rufipes de Geer 27th Anniversary and Annual Scientific Meeting of the Pest Management Council of the Philippines, Inc., Davao City (Philippines), 7-10 May 1996 as PDF
28. ^ Brian E. Grimwood: Coconut Palm Products - Their processing in developing countries FAO (Food and Agriculture organization of the United Nations) Rome 1975
29. ↑ Th.W.Phillips, Md.M Hasan, MJAikins, MW Schilling: Efficacy of Sulsuryl Fluoride to control Ham Mites and Red-legged Ham Beatles Research Conference on ..., 2008 - mbao.org as PDF
30. ↑ Th.W.Phillips, Md.M Hasan, MJAikins, R.Mahroof: Fumigation and IPM alternatives for arthropod pests of museums Research Conference on ..., 2008 - mbao.org as PDF
31. ↑ Jacobus Hendrik Kolver: Forensic Entomology: The influence of the burning of a body on insect succession and calculation of the post mortem interval Ph.D. thesis, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of the Free State , November 2009 as PDF  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
32. ↑ Adriana Oliva, Julio A. Ravioli: Conscript Carrasco: A Peacetime Casualty Aggrawal's Internet Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology 5 (1), 20043, pp. 45-49 as PDF
33. ↑ K.Shoenly, M.Lee Goff, M.Early: A BASIC Algorithm for Calculating the Postmortem Interval from Arthropod Successional Data Journal of Forensic Sciences, JFCA Vol. 37, No 3, pp. 808–823 as PDF  ( page no longer retrievable , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
34. ↑ Dorothy Gennard: Forensic Entomology - An Introduction 2nd Edition John Wiley & Sons 2012, ISBN 978-0-470-68902-8
35. ^ Mark Benecke , Six Forensic Entomology Cases: Description and Commentary Journal of Forensic Sciences 1998; 43 (4): 797-805. PDF
36. ↑ Marta I. Saloña et al .: Searching the Soil: Forensic Importance of Edaphic Fauna After the Removal of a Corpse Journal of Forensic Sciences 2010, doi: 10.1111 / j.1556-4029.2010.01506.x as PDF
37. ↑ MS Archer, DL Ranson: Potential Contamination of Forensic Entomology Samples Collected in the Mortuary Med Sci Law January 2005 45: 89-91 doi: 10.1258 / rsmmsl.45.1.89 .

Web links

Commons : Red-legged Beetle  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Profile of the Working Group of Southwest German Coleopterologists
• Identification key of the European species of the genus Necrobia
• FAO information on Art
• Species information at the insect box
• Information on pests of cultural property (French)
• Info at BugGuide (English)
• Photo male-female
• Image larva from above and below
• Image larva laterally