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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Red Flour-Beetle; German Rotbrauner Reismehlkäfer GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE India; EXOTIC EXOTIC Circumglobal COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Naturalised; S.Group; Land, in stored flour products SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; in dried foods, esp. cereals KEY FEATURES: To 2-4mm TL. Red-brown. Parallel sided beetle; antennae short (c.head-width). LARVAE elongate, parallel sides, 6 legs; abdomen 9 segments, terminal one with 2 strongly-curved projections. SIMILAR SPECIES: Tribolium confusum (not yet record in Cooks) is brown (vs red-brown); ventrally eyes separated by more-than-2x eye-width (vs c.equal eye-width); laterally constriction of eye about 2 facets wide (vs c.4 facets). Get the microscope out!

Cook Islands Distribution

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Southern Group: Present    Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
P

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW

Tribolium castaneum (Herbst, 1797)
TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; ARTHROPODA; ATELOCERATA; HEXAPODA; INSECTA; PTERYGOTA; Coleoptera; TENEBRIONIDAE

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
NEGATIVE SIGNIFICANCE: in dried foods, esp. cereals. Comments: Major pest in dried foods, esp. cereals. Gives damaged foods an unpleasant odour.

IDENTIFICATION: To 2-4mm TL. Red-brown. Parallel sided beetle; antennae short (c.head-width). LARVAE elongate, parallel sides, 6 legs; abdomen 9 segments, terminal one with 2 strongly-curved projections (=urogomphi). Adult and larvae damage stored foods.

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: specimens, in pasta, CITC, 7/2000, Maja Poeschko.

References:
None recorded.

Data Update History (information):
zB02, zD02

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