Help with this one
I know my bug isn’t glamorous like a Luna Moth but I am really concerned about this thing and if somehow, not seeing any for 3 years, it has followed me from Chicago to New York. I sent a message a little over a week ago with a pic that wasn’t that clear. Hopefully these are better. He is pretty small so it is tough to get a good close up focus.
This is a Mezium Spider Beetle. They are pests in stored grain products.
Expert Update: (05/22/2008) spider beetle errors
Dear Bugman,
I believe I had written earlier when looking at many of the spider beetle pictures. Almost all of the shiny brown, globular body, images are of Gibbium aequinoctiale and not Mezium species. There is a combined 2 image photo (finger and beetle & 2 beetles) of Mezium : the answer was posted by Eric Eaton, I believe. Gibbium species do not have a velvety covering on the thorax, Mezium species do. You should correct your website postings so people will have a better idea of what they have been finding. Best regards,
Lou
Louis N. Sorkin, B.C.E.
Entomology Section
Division of Invertebrate Zoology
American Museum of Natural History
New York
Dear Lou,
Thanks so much for resending this vital correction to our website. We really appreciate your expertise on this. We sincerely hope that addressing you with such familiarity doesn’t detract from your professional status.