Confused flour beetle

Tribolium confusum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Tenebrionidae
Genus: Tribolium
Species:
T. confusum
Binomial name
Tribolium confusum

The confused flour beetle (Tribolium confusum), a type of darkling beetle known as a flour beetle, is a globally found, common pest insect known for attacking and infesting stored flour and grain. They are one of the most common and most destructive insect pests for grain and other food products stored in silos, warehouses, grocery stores, and homes.[2] They engage in cannibalistic behaviors for population control and nutritional benefits.[3] [4]Tribolium confusum practices kin selection to improve individual fitness.[5] Multiple chemicals have been used to manage their infestation, including pyrethin and fungal insecticides.[6][7]

The "confused" in the beetle's name is due to it being confused with the red flour beetle, not because of its walking pattern.[8]

  1. ^ Jacquelin du Val, Pierre Nicolas Camille (1863). Manuel entomologique. Genera des coléoptères d'Europe comprenant leur classification en familles naturelles, la description de tous les genres, des tableaux synoptiques destinés à faciliter l'étude, le catalogue de toutes les espèces, de nombreux dessins au trait de caractères et plus de treize cents types représentant un ou plusieurs insectes de chaque genre dessinés et peints d'après nature avec le plus grand soin par M. Jules Migneaux. Tome troisième. Paris: A. Deyrolle, Naturaliste. p. 181 du Catalogue.
  2. ^ Lyon WF. Confused and ref flour beetles. Ohio State Fact Sheets. (15 April 2010).
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  8. ^ Baldwin R, Fasulo TR. (2010). Confused flour beetle, Tribolium confusum Jacquelin du Val, and red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst). Featured Creatures. (15 April 2010).