More urban species: Red flour beetle

A coworker called me over to identify some insects lurking in a mealworm colony. They were so small (about 2 mm long each) I couldn't even tell what they were at first--I actually thought they were fruit fly pupae.

I took this picture and could see that they were beetles. Not sawtooth grain beetles, because these lack the distinctive teeth on the thorax. I went to my pest control text, since it seemed likely that they were known grain pests.

It soon became clear that these were flour beetles (Tribolium sp.). There are two common types, T. castaneum the red flour beetle--so called because of the reddish brown color--and T. confusum the "confused" flour beetle, which gets its name because it's easily confused with the other. Really. The "confused" is more tolerant of cold temperatures, and is more common in northern climates. However, the red has another field marking that helps remove the confusion: it flies, while the other does not. I was told these beetles had been observed flying, allowing me to identify them to species.

I was also interested to learn that both kinds of flour beetles are in the family Tenebrionidae: the darkling beetles. Darkling beetles are what I call the adult form of mealworms. So the mealworm colony was infested with their own tiny cousins. Hard to consider them contaminants, more like freeloaders.

Blue sky

Approaching Boston from the south, on rt. 93.

3:00 snapshot #1726: Thursday

Comparing primates. Not really fair--the prints are from hind limbs. Any guesses as to what animal it is?

Snamuh Eht Evas Snamuh Eht Morf

Hey lyonesse, m0053, reikirockerchic, iainzard the bumper stickers are in. G'wan paypal me 5 bucks

OR IF YOU PREFER
Send a check to Jef Taylor 1 Franklin Park Road Boston MA 02121 and write in one of the following names:
Pittie Love Rescue
AAZK Zoo New England
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I'll send you the bumper sticker when I get the money or check. DON'T FORGET YOUR MAILING ADDRESS.