Darkling beetle

Darkling beetles
Alphitobius sp. (Tenebrioninae: Alphitobiini) Scale bar (top right) is 2 millimeters
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Coleoptera
Suborder:	Polyphaga
Superfamily:	Tenebrionoidea
Family:	Tenebrionidae Latreille, 1802
Subfamilies
Alleculinae Coelometopinae Diaperinae Hypophloeinae Lagriinae Myrmechixeninae Phrenapatinae Pimeliinae Tenebrioninae and see text

Darkling beetles (also known as darkening beetles) are a family of beetles found worldwide, estimated at more than 20,000 species. Many of the beetles have black elytra, leading to their common name. Apart from the 9 subfamilies listed here, the tribe Opatrini of the Tenebrioninae is sometimes considered a distinct family, and/or the Pimeliinae are included in the Tenebrioninae as a tribe Pimeliini.

Darkling beetles eat both fresh and decaying vegetation. Major predators include birds, rodents, sunspiders, and lizards. Some species live in the dry Namib desert and have evolved modifications that help them collect water from the fog that condenses on their elytra.

The larval stages of several species are cultured as feeder insects for captive insectivores, and include the very commonly known mealworms (Tenebrio molitor) and superworms (Zophobas morio), and the lesser-known mini mealworms (Tenebrio obscurus). When the beetle first hatches from the pupa stage, it will be a creamy white, then brown, and finally black.

Characteristics

This family of beetles may be identified by a combination of features, including :

• An 11-segmented antenna which may be filiform, moniliform, or weakly clubbed.
• First abdominal sternite entire and not divided by the hind coxae.
• Eyes notched by a frontal ridge.
• Tarsi have four segments in the hind pair and 5 in the fore and mid legs (5-5-4.) The tarsal claws are simple.

Notable species

Red Flour Beetle (Tribolium castaneum, Tenebrioninae: Triboliini)

• Tenebrio molitor is commonly used as food for terrestrial amniotes kept in terraria.
• Zophobas morio, or superworm, is another commonly used live food insect among reptile keepers and is notable due to it being slightly larger and containing smaller amounts of chitin than Tenebrio molitor.
• Tribolium castaneum is a popular laboratory animal and model organism, especially in studies of intragenomic conflict and population ecology studies.
• Z. morio and T. castaneum, along with other Tribolium species (e.g. T. confusum and T. constructor) and Gnathocerus cornutus, are pests of cereal and flour silos and other storage facilities.
• In southwestern North America, species of the genus Eleodes (particularly E. obscurus) are well known as "pinacate beetle" or "desert stink beetle".

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  Lagria sp. (Lagriinae) in Tanzania

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  Cerocamptus angulicollis, a coelometopine from India

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  A Platynotina species (Tenebrioninae: Pedinini) from India

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  A pitted darkling beetle from Namibia

External links

• Tenebrionidae.net- information and pictures about darkling beetles
• Alphitobius diaperinus, lesser mealworm on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures Web site
• Leichenum canaliculatum variegatum, Madagascar beetle on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures Web site