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INSECT FACTS |
Identification
The Confused Flour Beetle apparently got its name from confusion with the similar Rust Red Flour Beetle (Tribolium castaneum). Like the Rust Red Flour Beetle, the Confused Flour Beetle is a significant pest of stored food products in mills, stores, food processing plants and homes. The beetle is reddish brown with antennae that gradually thicken into an indistinct club shape with four club segments (the Red Rust Flour Beetle has a prominent three segment club on the end of the antennae). There is a distinct ridge above each eye. The sides of the thorax of the Red Flour Beetle are curved whereas those of the Confused Flour Beetle are more parallel. somewhat straighter. The Confused Flour Beetle does not usually fly.
Size
Length about 4mm - 4.5mm
Food
The Confused Flour Beetle is a pest species that attacks stored grain products such as flour, cereals, meal, beans and other dried food products.
Breeding
The female Confused Flour Beetle lays tiny white eggs. The larvae are slender and creamy yellow to light brown with two small pointed projections on the last body segment. The pupae are white to yellowish. The life cycle takes from 40 to 90 days from egg to adult. Adult beetles can live for three years.
Classification
| Class: | Insecta | | Order: | Coleoptera | | Family: | Tenebrionidae | | Genus: | Tribolium | | Species: | confusum | | Common Name: | Confused Flour Beetle |
Relatives in same Genus
Rust Red Flour Beetle (T. castaneum)
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