Darkling beetle is the
common name
In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...
for members of the
beetle
Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...
family Tenebrionidae. The number of
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
in the Tenebrionidae is estimated at more than 20,000 and the family is cosmopolitan in distribution.
Taxonomy
''Tenebrio'' is the Latin
generic
Generic or generics may refer to:
In business
* Generic term, a common name used for a range or class of similar things not protected by trademark
* Generic brand, a brand for a product that does not have an associated brand or trademark, other ...
name that
Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
assigned to some flour beetles in his ''
10th edition of Systema Naturae
The 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' is a book written by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus and published in two volumes in 1758 and 1759, which marks the starting point of zoological nomenclature. In it, Linnaeus introduced binomial nomencla ...
'' 1758-59. The word means "seeker of dark places"
(or figuratively a trickster); an English language analogy is "darkling".
Numerous Tenebrionidae species do inhabit dark places, however, there are many species in
genera
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...
such as ''Stenocara'' and ''Onymacris'', which are active by day and inactive at night.
The family covers a varied range of forms, such that classification presents great difficulties. These eleven subfamilies were listed in the 2021 review by Bouchard, Bousquet, ''et al.'', updating a similar catalog from 2005.
[Bouchard, Patrice. Lawrence, John F. Davies, Anthony E. Newton, Alfred F. Synoptic Classification of the World Tenebrionidae (Insecta: Coleoptera) with a Review of Family-Group Names. Annales Zoologici (Warszawa), 2005, 55(4): 499–530]
* Alleculinae
Alleculinae is a subfamily of comb-clawed beetles belonging to the family Tenebrionidae
Darkling beetle is the common name for members of the beetle family Tenebrionidae. The number of species in the Tenebrionidae is estimated at more than 2 ...
Laporte, 1840
* Blaptinae
Blaptinae is a subfamily of darkling beetles in the family Tenebrionidae
Darkling beetle is the common name for members of the beetle family Tenebrionidae. The number of species in the Tenebrionidae is estimated at more than 20,000 and the fa ...
Leach, 1815
* Diaperinae
Diaperinae is a subfamily of darkling beetles in the family Tenebrionidae
Darkling beetle is the common name for members of the beetle family Tenebrionidae. The number of species in the Tenebrionidae is estimated at more than 20,000 and the f ...
Latreille, 1802
* Kuhitangiinae
Kuhitangiinae is a subfamily of darkling beetles in the family Tenebrionidae
Darkling beetle is the common name for members of the beetle family Tenebrionidae. The number of species in the Tenebrionidae is estimated at more than 20,000 and th ...
G.S. Medvedev, 1962
* Lagriinae
Lagriinae is a subfamily of long-jointed beetles in the family Tenebrionidae
Darkling beetle is the common name for members of the beetle family Tenebrionidae. The number of species in the Tenebrionidae is estimated at more than 20,000 and t ...
Latreille, 1825
* Nilioninae
''Nilio'' is a genus of false lady beetles found in the Neotropics. It is the only genus in the Darkling beetle
Darkling beetle is the common name for members of the beetle family Tenebrionidae. The number of species in the Tenebrionidae is es ...
Oken, 1843
* Phrenapatinae
Phrenapatinae is a subfamily of darkling beetles in the family Tenebrionidae. There are more than 20 genera in Phrenapatinae, grouped into 3 tribes.
Genera
These genera belong to the subfamily Phrenapatinae:
* '' Afrotagalus'' Gebien, 1942
* '' ...
Solier, 1834
* Pimeliinae Latreille, 1802
* Stenochiinae Kirby, 1837
* Tenebrioninae
Tenebrioninae is the largest subfamily of the darkling beetles (Tenebrionidae), containing flour beetles, among others. Tenebrioninae contains more than 20 tribes.
Description
Adults
Adults are robust, mid-sized beetles that typically hav ...
Latreille, 1802
* Zolodininae
Zolodininae is a subfamily of darkling beetles in the family Tenebrionidae
Darkling beetle is the common name for members of the beetle family Tenebrionidae. The number of species in the Tenebrionidae is estimated at more than 20,000 and the f ...
Watt, 1975
Ongoing phylogenetic studies are showing that some taxonomic changes are needed. For instance the tribal classification of tribe Pedinini
Pedinini is a tribe of darkling beetles in the family Tenebrionidae. There are about 19 genera in Pedinini.
In research by Kamiński et al. published in 2021, Pedinini and six other tribes were moved from Tenebrioninae into the newly resurrected ...
has recently been altered.
The misspelling "Terebrionidae" occurs frequently enough to be easily overlooked. The error appears to have no particular significance, but to be the product of misreadings, mis-scans and mis-typings.
The oldest known member of the family is '' Jurallecula'' from the Late Jurassic
The Late Jurassic is the third epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time from 163.5 ± 1.0 to 145.0 ± 0.8 million years ago (Ma), which is preserved in Upper Jurassic strata.Owen 1987.
In European lithostratigraphy, the name ...
Karabastau Formation
The Karabastau Formation ( kk, Qarabastaý svıtasy) is a geological formation and lagerstätte in the Karatau Mountains of southern Kazakhstan whose strata date to the Middle to Late Jurassic. It is an important locality for insect fossils that ...
of Kazakhstan, assigned to the subfamily Alleculinae.
Characteristics
The Tenebrionidae may be identified by a combination of features, including:
* Their 11-segmented antenna
Antenna ( antennas or antennae) may refer to:
Science and engineering
* Antenna (radio), also known as an aerial, a transducer designed to transmit or receive electromagnetic (e.g., TV or radio) waves
* Antennae Galaxies, the name of two collid ...
e that may be filiform
Filiform, thread or filament like, can refer to:
* Filiform, a common term used in botany to describe a thread-like shape
*Filiform, or filiform catheter
In medicine, a catheter (/ˈkæθətər/) is a thin tubing (material), tube made from m ...
, moniliform or weakly clubbed
* First abdominal sternite is entire and not divided by the hind coxae
* Eyes notched by a frontal ridge
* The tarsi have four segments in the hind pair and five in the fore and mid legs (5-5-4), tarsal claws are simple
Biology and ecology
Tenebrionid beetles occupy ecological niche
In ecology, a niche is the match of a species to a specific environmental condition.
Three variants of ecological niche are described by
It describes how an organism or population responds to the distribution of resources and competitors (for ...
s in mainly deserts and forests as plant scavengers. Most species are generalistic omnivores
An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nutri ...
, and feed on decaying leaves, rotting wood, fresh plant matter, dead insects, and fungi as larvae and adults. Several genera, including ''Bolitotherus'', are specialized fungivores
Fungivory or mycophagy is the process of organisms consuming fungi. Many different organisms have been recorded to gain their energy from consuming fungi, including birds, mammals, insects, plants, amoebas, gastropods, nematodes, bacteria and othe ...
which feed on polypore
Polypores are a group of fungi that form large fruiting bodies with pores or tubes on the underside (see Delimitation for exceptions). They are a morphological group of basidiomycetes-like gilled mushrooms and hydnoid fungi, and not all polyp ...
s. Many of the larger species are flightless, and those that are capable, such as ''T. molitor'', only do so when necessary, such as when dispersing or malnourished.
The larvae
A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle.
The ...
, known as mealworms or false wireworms, are usually fossorial
A fossorial () animal is one adapted to digging which lives primarily, but not solely, underground. Some examples are badgers, naked mole-rats, clams, meerkats, and mole salamanders, as well as many beetles, wasps, and bees.
Prehistoric eviden ...
, heavily armored and nocturnal. They may possibly be an important resource for certain invertebrates
Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...
and small mammals
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...
. However, the adults of many species have chemical defenses and are relatively protected against predators. Adults of most species, except grain pests, have slow metabolisms, and live long lives compared to other insects, ranging from approximately six months to two years.
Some species live in intensely dry deserts such as the Namib
The Namib ( ; pt, Namibe) is a coastal desert in Southern Africa. The name is of Khoekhoegowab origin and means "vast place". According to the broadest definition, the Namib stretches for more than along the Atlantic coasts of Angola, Nami ...
, and have evolved adaptions by which they collect droplets of fog that deposit on their elytra
An elytron (; ; , ) is a modified, hardened forewing of beetles (Coleoptera), though a few of the true bugs (Hemiptera) such as the family Schizopteridae are extremely similar; in true bugs, the forewings are called hemelytra (sometimes alterna ...
. As the droplets accumulate the water drains down the beetles' backs to their mouthparts, where they swallow it.
Humans spread some species such that they have become cosmopolitan, such as ''Tribolium castaneum
The red flour beetle (''Tribolium castaneum'') is a species of beetle in the family Tenebrionidae, the darkling beetles. It is a worldwide pest of stored products, particularly food grains, and a model organism for ethological and food safety ...
'', the red flour beetle, which was spread through grain products.
Notable species
The larva
A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle.
The ...
l stages of several species are cultured as feeder insects for captive insectivore
A robber fly eating a hoverfly
An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant that eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects.
The first vertebrate insectivores wer ...
s or as laboratory subjects:
* ''Tenebrio molitor
Mealworms are the larval form of the yellow mealworm beetle, ''Tenebrio molitor'', a species of darkling beetle. Like all holometabolic insects, they go through four life stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Larvae typically measure about or ...
'' is commonly used to feed terrestrial amniote
Amniotes are a clade of tetrapod vertebrates that comprises sauropsids (including all reptiles and birds, and extinct parareptiles and non-avian dinosaurs) and synapsids (including pelycosaurs and therapsids such as mammals). They are disti ...
s kept in terraria
''Terraria'' is an action-adventure sandbox game developed by Re-Logic. The game was first released for Windows on May 16, 2011, and has since been ported to several other platforms. The game features exploration, crafting, building, painting, ...
.
* ''Tribolium castaneum'' is a laboratory animal useful as a model organism
A model organism (often shortened to model) is a non-human species that is extensively studied to understand particular biological phenomena, with the expectation that discoveries made in the model organism will provide insight into the workin ...
, especially in studies of intragenomic conflict
Intragenomic conflict refers to the evolutionary phenomenon where genes have phenotypic effects that promote their own transmission in detriment of the transmission of other genes that reside in the same genome. The selfish gene theory postulates ...
and population ecology.
* ''Zophobas morio
''Zophobas morio'' is a species of darkling beetle, whose larvae are known by the common name superworm, kingworm, morio worm or simply Zophobas. Superworms are common in the reptile pet industry as food, along with giant mealworms, which are '' ...
'', or superworm, is valued as a feed for captive reptiles; it contains less chitin
Chitin ( C8 H13 O5 N)n ( ) is a long-chain polymer of ''N''-acetylglucosamine, an amide derivative of glucose. Chitin is probably the second most abundant polysaccharide in nature (behind only cellulose); an estimated 1 billion tons of chit ...
than ''Tenebrio molitor''.
* ''Alphitobius diaperinus
''Alphitobius diaperinus'' is a species of beetle in the family Tenebrionidae, the darkling beetles. It is known commonly as the lesser mealworm and the litter beetle. It has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring nearly worldwide. It is known wi ...
'', lesser mealworm[
* Many tenebrionids are pests of ]cereal
A cereal is any Poaceae, grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, Cereal germ, germ, and bran. Cereal Grain, grain crops are grown in greater quantit ...
and flour
Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many culture ...
silo
A silo (from the Greek σιρός – ''siros'', "pit for holding grain") is a structure for storing bulk materials. Silos are used in agriculture to store fermented feed known as silage, not to be confused with a grain bin, which is used t ...
s and other storage facilities, including ''T. castaneum'', other '' Tribolium'' species such as '' Tribolium confusum'' and '' Tribolium destructor'', and '' Gnathocerus cornutus''.
* In southwestern North America, species of the genus ''Eleodes
''Eleodes'' is a genus of darkling beetles, family Tenebrionidae. They are commonly known as pinacate beetles or desert stink beetles. They are endemic to western North America, with many species found in the Sonoran Desert. The name ''pinacate ...
'' (particularly ''E. obscurus'') are well known as "pinacate beetle
''Eleodes'' is a genus of darkling beetles, family Tenebrionidae. They are commonly known as pinacate beetles or desert stink beetles. They are endemic to western North America, with many species found in the Sonoran Desert. The name ''pinacate' ...
s" or "desert stink beetles".
* Several genera, such as ''Stenocara'' and ''Onymacris'', are of interest in ecological studies of arid conditions and their associated adaptations.
* '' Ulomoides dermestoides'', known as "chinese weevil", "peanut beetle", "cancer beetle", or "asthma beetle", is eaten in Argentina where it is thought to be a treatment for cancer, asthma, and other illnesses.
Gallery
References
External links
Tenebrionidae.net- information and pictures about darkling beetles
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