BEETLES associated with stored products in Canada: An identification guide
BEETLES associated with stored products in Canada: An identification guide
BEETLES
associated with stored
products in Canada:
An identification guide
This book is intended to provide extension entomologists and naturalists with an identification guide to the common beetles associated with stored products in Canada. Only the adult stage is dealt with in this book. The distribution and economic importance of each species are discussed; information on the biology is omitted, because it is the subject of a recent publication (Campbell et al. 1989).
Beetles represent the largest natural order in the animal kingdom; more than 9000 species are estimated to occur in Canada (Campbell 1979). The main characteristic of the adult beetle is the modification of the anterior wings, the elytra, into a stiff cover that protects the membranous posterior wings (if present) and the abdomen when the beetle is at rest. In a few species, such as the female of Thylodrias contractus, the elytra have been secondarily lost. Like many other insects, beetles have a complete metamorphosis, with four distinct stages in their life cycle: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. More information about the general morphology and biology of Coleoptera can be found in Crowson (1981) and Halstead (1986).
Every year, large quantities of stored products are destroyed or contaminated because of the presence of arthropods, and beetles are by far the most important group of animals attacking these products (Hinton 1945). Over 600 species around the world have been found associated with stored products, and
120 of these are dealt with here (see .List of beetles associated with stored products in Canada.). The species include those established or found more or less regularly in Canada and associated with stored products. Less than half of these species actually eat the product or one of its constituents. In fact, many of the stored-product species feed on fungi or on dead arthropods and small mammals present in places where food is stored. Species known in Canada only from interceptions at ports of entry have not been included, except for Trogoderma granarium. Also excluded are the species that are general predators, such as Carabidae and Staphylinidae, and those attacking structural woodwork in buildings, such as many Anobiidae, Bostrichidae, and Cerambycidae. Although some of these species may be found in buildings where food is stored, they are only incidental and thus are not considered to be associated with stored products.
This guide is organized in two parts. The first includes keys and illustrations of the common stored-product species in Canada. The second part presents, for each species treated, sections on diagnosis and sexual dimorphism as well as information on distribution and economic importance.
Yves Bousquet
Biosystematics Research Centre
Ottawa, Ontario
Research Branch
Agriculture Canada
Publication 1837
1990
