Beetles Identification Guide

successful in rearing the species on a diet of wheat germ. In addition, Aitken
(1975) reported D. ater to be frequent on cargo ships carrying copra from the
Ethiopian, Oriental, and Australian regions.
Dermestes frischii Kugelann
Diagnosis: The species differs from the other Dermestes dealt with here, except
D. maculatus, in having the sides of the pronotum almost entirely covered with
white setae. It is distinct from D. maculatus mainly in having the apical margin of
each elytron smooth, with the apex rounded, and a different setal pattern on the
last visible abdominal sternum (see Figs. 79 and 80).
Sexual dimorphism: Males have a tuft of setae on the middle of the fourth visible
abdominal sternum. Females have no such tuft of setae.
Distribution: Probably cosmopolitan. In Canada the species is known from the
Maritime Provinces west to Ontario and from British Columbia.
Economic importance: The species has been reported in Canada in granaries,
warehouses, shops, and dwellings. Both adults and larvae feed on a wide variety
of materials of animal origin and on the remains of insects. The larvae also cause
damage by boring into materials such as cork and vegetable fibers, to pupate.
Dermestes lardarius Linnaeus
larder beetle
dermeste du lard
Diagnosis: The species is readily separated from the other Dermestes studied here
by the coloration of the elytral vestiture: the apical half of each elytron is clothed
with dark setae, and the basal half with white setae, except for a basal patch of dark
setae and 3 small, rounded, sometimes contiguous patches of dark setae.
Sexual dimorphism: Males have a tuft of setae on the middle of the third and
fourth visible abdominal sterna (Fig. 261). Females have no such tuft of setae.
Distribution: Cosmopolitan. The species occurs in Canada from coast to coast.
Economic importance: In Canada D. lardarius is frequently found in granaries,
grain elevators, warehouses, and dwellings, where the adults and larvae
survive on all kinds of animal materials and on the remains of insects. They
probably also feed on materials of vegetable origin, since Woodroffe (1966)
reared the species on a diet of wheat germ. The full-grown larvae are known
to bore into solid materials, such as timber, cork, vegetable fibers, lead, and
mortar, to pupate. In the United Kingdom D. lardarius and D. maculatus
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