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POWDER POST BEETLES,

WOODWORMS, AND RELATIVES

BOSTRICHOIDEA

B

ostrichoidea is a small superfamily of

Polyphaga, with fewer than 4,000 species,

about 400 genera, and four families. All four

families have an ability, aided by gut microbes, to

develop on dry organic matter; this brings some

species into conflict with humans.

Bostrichidae, called augur beetles, includes

some 600 species. With a few exceptions (such as

the Lesser Grain Borer Rhyzopertha dominica, a stored

crop pest), larvae bore in wood, mostly when it is

dead and dry. Adults of several species can emerge

suddenly and unexpectedly from imported

ornaments or furniture, inside which larvae have

been growing for several years. The largest species,

Dinapate wrightii, the Giant Palm Borer, is associated

with palm trees in California, and reaches lengths

of 2 in (5 cm).

Ptinidae includes 2,200 species. Spider beetles

(subfamily Ptininae) are named for their round body

and long, outspread limbs. Woodworm and death

watch beetles (subfamily Anobiinae) include several

important pests of furniture and building timber.

Endecatomidae is a small family that contains

only four small beetles in the genus Endecatomus,

found on fungus-infested wood in forests of the

northern hemisphere.

Dermestidae, hide beetles or skin beetles,

includes around 1,200 species, which mostly feed

on dry animal matter. The genus Dermestes is

common on dry carrion outdoors, and some also

infest dried meat or fish products, earning the name

“larder beetles.” Several genera of dermestids are

called “museum beetles,” as they are destructive

pests of collections of taxidermy, skins, or insects.

The bristly larvae, known as “woolly bears,” do

most of the damage, while the adults feed outdoors

on nectar from flowers.

BOSTRICHOIDEA

superfamily

Bostrichoidea

known species

4,000

distribution

Worldwide, except Antarctica. Several

species have been spread by human trade

habitat

Forests, scrub, human habitations

size

2–50 mm

diet

Dry organic matter, from dry wood and grain

(Bostrichidae, Ptinidae: Anobiinae), to dry

animal matter (Dermestidae, Ptinidae:

Ptininae)

notes

Some Dermestidae, in the genera Anthrenus,

Trogoderma, and Reesa, are important pests

not only in homes but also in museums, where

natural history curators struggle to keep them

out of the collections. Museum beetles

probably evolved feeding on dry insect