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INSECT FACTS |
Identification
The Golden Spider Beetle is brown and covered with golden yellow hair. The body shape resembles a spider with rounded abdomen, narrow thorax and rounded head. It has long thin legs and long segmented antennae. The larvae are yellow-white grubs with a brown head and a curled c-shape. The beetles are nocturnal and spend the day in cracks and crevices. The Golden Spider Beetle is a pest species of dry stored food and also damages packaging, bags and sacks as well as the food commodities.
Size
adult beetle length 4mm to 5mm. Larvae grow up to 3.5mm long
Food
The Golden Spider Beetle is a pest of stored food products such as grain, seeds, dried fruit, dried meat, tea. It is also found in wool, cotton, silk, feathers, leather, books and paper.
Breeding
The female golden spider beetle lays 20 to 40 eggs which hatch after 11 to 30 days. After about 150 to 250 days, the larva pupates, emerging as an adult beetle after a further 18 to 26 days. Adult beetles live for up to 9 months.
Classification
| Class: | Insecta | | Order: | Coleoptera | | Family: | Anobiidae | | Genus: | Niptus | | Species: | hololeucus | | Common Name: | Golden Spider Beetle |
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