Categories

Tags

Beetle and Larvae?
Location: Kotzebue, Alaska
April 18, 2011 11:57 pm
I am finding these beetles all over the house on the floor, and I just scooped up 7 or 8 of what I believe to be a larvae stage of the beetle. The worms appear to have six legs and at first I thought they were a type of mealworm but I have been finding these beetles all over the house. I live in northern Alaska, close to Russia and I had the bugs outside in sub-zero temperatures and they are still alive. It is strange to me that even with the extreme cold they are still alive. What can they be? The beetles are black and all have a white stripe halfway down the shell.
Signature: Alaskan

Larder Beetle and Larvae

Dear Alaskan,
You have submitted a photo of a Larder Beetle and Larder Beetle Larvae, Dermestes lardarius.  These are pests of stored foods but they may also infest museum specimens like stuffed animals.  If they are not in your pantry, you may want to closely inspect your taxidermy specimens like hunting trophies.  We are postdating this entry to go live during our holiday later in the week.

They are not only in the pantry, we have been finding them on the floors on the corners of the wall. Even with the best of insulation it is not un-common for insects and mice to spend the winter within a house’s insulation in our area so I assumed they were just one of our winter visitors waking up for Spring. The ones I caught are still alive and kicking somewhere outside so any future beetles I find are heading outside as well, thank you for the ID!

Related Posts

• 
  (04/04/2005)
  Larder Beetle
• 
  (04/07/2010)
  Larder Beetle
• 
  (04/07/2011)
  Larder Beetle
• 
  (01/19/2012)
  Larder Beetle