Tenebrionidae

One of the largest families of beetles, numbering some 20,000 species, with a wide range of variations. A number of the species are agricultural pests.

Many species greatly resemble ground beetles, though they are not normally predatory, but feed typically on plant material and other rotting matter. The family is most successful in terms of numbers and species in tropical forest (for example, equatorial Africa) and desert (for example, Central Asia, Namib Desert). Tenebrionids are also commonly found in caves.

Classification Tenebrionidae is in order Coleoptera, class Insecta, phylum Arthropoda.

Species Certain species, such as Eleodes, show characteristic head-standing, with emission of evil-smelling fluid, as a defence mechanism. Three species of flour beetles belonging to the genus Tribolium are almost universally distributed: T. confusum, T. castaneus, and T. destructor. They are major pests of stored agricultural products, such as flour, and abound in granaries and stores where both the adult beetles and the larvae feed on damaged grain or flour. Neither adults nor larvae can eat intact grains.

The genus Tenebrio includes species that are minor pests of stored products. Both T. molito and T. obscurus are cosmopolitan and abound in storehouses where there are flour products. All stages (eggs, larvae, and adults) of the life history are to be found in flour. Both species can survive on whole grain.