Flour beetle

Flour beetles
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Hexapoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Coleoptera
Family:	Tenebrionidae (partim)
Genera
Tenebrio Tribolium

Flour beetles are members of the darkling beetle genus Tribolium or Tenebrio. They are pests of cereal silos and are widely used as laboratory animals, as they are easy to keep. The flour beetles enjoy wheat and other grains and are adapted to survive in very dry environments and can withstand high amounts of radiation (even more than cockroaches).^[1] They are a major pest in the agricultural industry and are highly resistant to insecticides.

The larvae of T. molitor when full-grown are known as mealworms, small specimens and the larvae of the other species are called mini mealworms.

Selected species

• Tribolium castaneum – red flour beetle
• Tribolium confusum – confused flour beetle
• Tribolium destructor – destructive flour beetle
• Tenebrio molitor – mealworm beetle
• Tenebrio obscurus

Larvae are less than a millimetre in length, and are also found in agricultural industries.

Tribolium castaneum

Research

In 2008, the Tribolium castaneum genome was sequenced by the Tribolium Genome Sequencing Consortium. The results were published in Nature Magazine.^[2]

An experiment carried out by MythBusters revealed that they are able to survive 1000 gray (100,000 rad), 100 times the immediate lethal dose of radiation for humans, in 10% of the cases.

External links

• Beetlebase genome information

References

1. ^ Tuncbilek, A.S., Ayvaz, A., Ozturk, F. and Kaplan, B. 2003 Gamma radiation sensitivity of larvae and adults of the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum Herbst. \emph{Anz. Schadlingskunde ⁄ J. Pest Science} 76, 129–132.
2. ^ [1] The tribolium genome published in nature, 2008

This Tenebrionidae-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: Beetle stubs Tenebrionidae Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную? Nikodym set Găvan River (Siret) Look at other dictionaries: flour beetle — noun an insect that infests flour and stored grains • Syn: ↑flour weevil • Hypernyms: ↑darkling beetle, ↑darkling groung beetle, ↑tenebrionid • Member Holonyms: ↑Tribolium, ↑ …   Useful english dictionary flour beetle — any of several brown darkling beetles, esp. of the genus Tribolium, that infest, breed in, feed on, and often pollute flour, stored grain, and other stored produce. [1885 90] * * * …   Universalium flour beetle — noun Date: 1888 any of various small darkling beetles (especially Tribolium confusum and T. castaneum) that typically feed on and lay eggs in stored grain and grain products …   New Collegiate Dictionary Confused flour beetle — Tribolium confusum Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum …   Wikipedia Destructive flour beetle — Dark flour beetle Tribolium destructor Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia …   Wikipedia confused flour beetle — noun Etymology: so called from its being confused with the red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum) : a cosmopolitan beetle (Tribolium confusum) that feeds both as larva and adult chiefly on damaged grain called also bran bug * * * a brown flour… …   Useful english dictionary red flour beetle — noun : a reddish brown beetle (Tribolium castaneum) that feeds on grain, cereals, stored fruits and other products * * * a reddish brown flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum, that feeds on stored grain, dried fruit, etc …   Useful english dictionary confused flour beetle — a brown flour beetle, Tribolium confusum, that feeds on stored grain and grain products. [appar. so called because it is confused with similar beetles] * * * …   Universalium red flour beetle — a reddish brown flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum, that feeds on stored grain, dried fruit, etc. * * * …   Universalium confused flour beetle — noun A beetle of the species …   Wiktionary 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”