Varied carpet beetle
| Varied carpet beetle | |
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| Dorsal view | |
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| Side view | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Family: | Dermestidae |
| Genus: | Anthrenus |
| Species: | A. verbasci |
| Binomial name | |
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Anthrenus verbasci (Linnaeus, 1767) |
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The varied carpet beetle (Anthrenus verbasci) is a 3 mm-long beetle belonging to the family Dermestidae.
This beetle in larval form is common in houses where it usually does little or no noticeable harm, but it is a feared pest in natural history museums, where it can seriously damage biological specimens. While adults are pollen grazers, larvae feed on natural fibers and can damage carpets, furniture, clothing, and insect collections. As the beetles are extremely common in gardens in the summer it is impossible to eradicate them completely from a normal home. Regular vacuuming will keep their numbers down.
The larval form is known as a woolly bear, a name it shares with the larvae of Arctia caja and many other moths of the family Arctiidae.
A. verbasci was the first insect to be shown to have an annual behavioral rhythm and to date remains a classic example of circannual cycles in animals.
Adult A. verbasci range from 1.7 to 3.5 mm (0.07 to 0.14 in) in length. The body is rounded, almost spherical. Elytra and pronotum have an irregular pattern of white, brownish and yellowish patches formed by scales of different colours. Whitish scales are condensed along the lateral margins of the pronotum and on the elytra, where they form three bright, wavy transversal bands. In addition, their antennae are 11-segmented with a club of 3 segments.
The larval form of A. verbasci are roughly 4–5 millimetres (0.16–0.20 in) in length. The larvae are elongate and densely hairy. The body is covered in a pattern of alternating light and dark-brown stripes. The body is usually wider at the back than at the front and also bears 3 pairs of hair tufts along its rear abdomen that can be used for self-defense.
This species is present in most of Europe, in the eastern Palearctic ecozone, in the Near East, in the Nearctic ecozone, in the North Africa and in North Asia.
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Wikipedia