Ptinus fur

Ptinus fur
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Polyphaga
Superfamily: Bostrichoidea
Family: Ptinidae
Subfamily: Ptininae
Genus: Ptinus
Species:
P. fur
Binomial name
Ptinus fur
Synonyms
  • Cerambyx fur Linnaeus, 1758
  • Buprestis fur Scopoli, 1763
Wikispecies has information related to Ptinus fur.

Ptinus fur, the white marked spider beetle, is a species of spider beetle in the genus Ptinus (family Ptinidae), with a nearly cosmopolitan distribution.[1]

Description

Adults are morphologically similar to other spider beetle species, notably the hairy spider beetle (Ptinus villiger).[2] It is red-brown with yellow hairs, and measures 2.0–4.3 millimetres (0.08–0.17 in) in length. The prothorax is densely covered with pale hairs, while the elytra bear some patches of white scales.[1]

Ptinus fur female, dorsolateral view

Distribution and Habitat

It is a pest of stored foods,[2] with a worldwide distribution, where it may be identified by leaving webbed, granular materials on the stored products.[2] Ptinus fur adults feed on dried and decaying animal and vegetable material.[2][3] It has also been identified as a pest in museums, damaging stored collections.[3]

It has been found in the nests of birds, notably the Sand Martin.[4]

Life cycle

The optimum temperature for rapid development of Ptinus fur is about 23 °C, at which temperature it completes its development in a mean period of 132 days.[5] Larvae of P. fur normally moult three times at 23°Cm but some have an extra moult.[5]

Well-defined diapause as mature larvae in cocoons occurs at low temperatures in some individuals of Ptinus fur: at 23 °C this lasts about 220 days after normal larvae have pupated; at 20 °C the period lasts about 280 days.[5]

Adult beetles live for several months.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b "Insect Fact Sheet 12. Spider Beetles & Biscuit Beetles" (PDF). Salford City Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 14, 2012. Retrieved November 5, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d "Whitemarked spider beetle Ptinus fur (L.)". Canada Grain Commission, Government of Canada. 2013. Retrieved 2017-01-22.
  3. ^ a b Chinery, M. 2012. Insects of Britain and Western Europe (Domino Guides), Revised Edition. London: Bloomsbury. pp 274.
  4. ^ Kirstofik, J.; Sustek, Z. & Gajdos, P. (1994). "Arthropods in the nests of the Sand Martin (Riparia riparia Linnaeus, 1758) in South Slovakia". Biologia Bratislava.
  5. ^ a b c d Howe, R. W. & Burges, H. D. (1951). "Studies on Beetles of the Family Ptinidae.* VI.—The Biology of Ptinus fur (L.) and P. sexpunctatus Panzer". Bulletin of Entomological Research. 42 (3): 499. doi:10.1017/S0007485300028893.


This Bostrichoidea-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.