Carpophilus
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Carpophilus'' is a genus of sap beetles. They are agricultural pests that cause feeding damage to a variety of fruits, grains and other food products worldwide. The genus contains a great number of species.


Description

Adult ''Carpophilus'' are oblong-shaped beetles roughly 3 mm in length and black, brown or mottled yellow in colour. The elytra are short, exposing the last two abdominal tergites. The antennae are clubbed. Larval ''Carpophilus'' are yellowish with a brown head and a pair of urogomphi (giving the appearance of a forked tail). They are about 5 mm long when fully grown.


Life cycle

Adult ''Carpophilus'' are active in spring and summer. They can fly several kilometres in search of host fruit. When this is discovered, the females lay eggs in fruit on the tree (in the case of stone fruit) or in fallen fruit on the ground (in the case of citrus, apples and figs). They may also lay in stored products such as dried fruit. Larvae feed and grow within the fruit. When mature, larvae leave the fruit to pupate in the ground. Larvae that infest stored products also pupate in them. There are several generations a year. Development from egg to adult takes approximately one month in summer. It is temperature-dependent, taking about 12 days at warm temperatures (32.2 °C) and up to 42 days at cooler temperatures (18.3 °C). Humidity also affects the life cycle, with faster development (and also more eggs laid) at higher humidity. ''Carpophilus'' can overwinter in the mature larva, pupa or adult stages, and does so in fruit, stored products, soil or in cracks or under bark of trees.


Pest status

''Carpophilus'' are pests of various fruits (including stone fruit, citrus, persimmons, apples and figs) and stored products (including
corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
,
cornmeal Cornmeal is a meal (coarse flour) or a cell membrane ground from dried corn. It is a common staple food, and is ground to coarse, medium, and fine consistencies, but not as fine as wheat flour can be.Herbst, Sharon, ''Food Lover's Companion'', ...
,
bread Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made f ...
, wheat, oats, rice,
sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...
, beans, peanuts,
nuts Nut often refers to: * Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, or a collective noun for dry and edible fruits or seeds * Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt Nut or Nuts may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Com ...
, cottonseed, copra, spices, drugs, and
honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...
). They damage fruit directly with their feeding and also indirectly by spreading diseases (e.g. brown rot).


Selected species


See also

* ''
Urophorus humeralis ''Urophorus humeralis'', known generally as the pineapple beetle or yellow-shouldered souring beetle, is a species of sap-feeding beetle in the family Nitidulidae. It is found in Africa, North America, Oceania, Southern Asia, Europe, and temperat ...
'' (Fabricius, 1798); formerly placed in the genus ''Carpophilus'', this species can be differentiated by having three abdominal tergites rather than two.


References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q14928640 Nitidulidae Beetles described in 1830