Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 20, 2026

Destructive flour beetle

The destructive or dark flour beetle, is one of the species of darkling beetle known generally as flour beetles. It is a common pest insect known for attacking and infesting stored flour and grain.

Last revised
Jun 20, 2026
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≈ 1 min
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169 w
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Destructive flour beetle
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Polyphaga
Infraorder: Cucujiformia
Family: Tenebrionidae
Genus: Tribolium
Species:
T. destructor
Binomial name
Tribolium destructor
Uyttenboogaart, 1934

The destructive or dark flour beetle (Tribolium destructor), is one of the species of darkling beetle known generally as flour beetles. It is a common pest insect known for attacking and infesting stored flour and grain.

It is a very dark brown beetle (darker than other Tribolium species) 5–6 mm long. T. destructor is found in North America, Europe and Africa. In addition to damaging flour and grain, it attacks animal food pellets, rolled oats, and poultry feed.1

See also

See also

References

References

  1. Granousky TA. 1997. Stored Product Pests. In Handbook of Pest Control, 8th Ed. Hedges SA, Moreland D (editors). Mallis Handbook and Technical Training Company.
External links
  • Tribolium species are hard to identify. Here are four species side by side. Note that several species of Tribolium may occur in the same infestation.Colpolon