Beetles Identification Guide

have recently become serious pests in the poultry industry (Coombs 1978).
Dermestes maculatus De Geer
hide beetle
dermeste des peaux
Diagnosis: Among the Dermestes dealt with here, this species is distinctive in
having the apical margin of each elytron serrate and the apex spiniform. Otherwise,
it is quite similar to D. frischii.
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: Cosmopolitan. In Canada the species ranges from Quebec west
to British Columbia.
Economic importance: In Canada this species has been reported in warehouses,
where the adults and larvae were probably feeding on the remains of insects. The
species is known to feed on all kinds of animal materials, and in the tropics it
causes extensive damage to marketed dried fish. In the United Kingdom D.
maculatus is one of the most common beetles in droppings in poultry houses
(Armitage 1986). As for the other Dermestes discussed here, the damage caused
by this beetle is intensified by the fact that full-grown larvae, when they pupate,
bore into solid materials on which they cannot feed, such as cork, timber, lead,
and vegetable fibers. According to Aitken (1975) this species is the most common
Dermestes on cargo ships carrying imported goods to Britain.
Dermestes marmoratus Say
common carrion dermestid
Diagnosis: This is the largest species of Dermestes dealt with here. The adults are
recognizable by the coloration of the elytral vestiture: each elytron is covered
with alternating patches of pale brown and black setae, sometimes with patches
of white setae also, and the basal half bears a transverse band of white setae narrowed
medially.
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: Exclusively Nearctic. In Canada the species has been found from
Manitoba west to British Columbia.
Economic importance: This dermestid has been recorded in Canada from cereal
warehouses and from a powdered-milk plant in British Columbia, where it was
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