Anthrenus

Anthrenus
Young imago of the Varied Carpet Beetle (Anthrenus verbasci), probably female
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Class: Insecta
Subclass: Pterygota
Infraclass: Neoptera
Superorder: Endopterygota
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Polyphaga
Infraorder: Bostrichiformia
Superfamily: Bostrichoidea
Family: Dermestidae
Subfamily: Megatominae
Tribe: Anthrenini
Genus: Anthrenus
Schaeffer, 1766
Subgenera

Anthrenodes
Anthrenops
Anthrenus Schaeffer, 1766
Florilinus Mulsant & Rey, 1868
Helocerus Mulsant & Rey, 1868 (disputed)
Nathrenus Casey, 1900
Ranthenus
Solskinus

Anthrenus is a genus of skin beetles (family Dermestidae). Commonly known as one of the several genera of "carpet beetles", Anthrenus was historically placed in a subfamily Anthreninae, though presently included in the Megatominae. The genus Neoanthrenus is closely related.

Anthrenus carpet beetles are small (a few millimetres) beetles with a rather rounded shape. Their antennae bear small clubs at the end, which are plumper in males than in females. Many have a delicate and rather pretty pattern, with a dark body covered in colorful scales of various brown, tan, red, whitish and grey hues. These scales rub off easily, and old individuals are often partially devoid of them, showing the shining black elytra. A considerable number of subspecies and varieties have been named, but it is questionable whether these are all valid or simply refer to such age-related differences. The massive number of species has been divided into several subgenera, but these are not too firmly established. The small subgenus Helocerus for example is sometimes entirely included in Florilinus. Also, new species are being described every now and then.

These beetles range essentially all over the world; they have even colonized some remote oceanic islands. Most species are harmless pollen-eaters, with the long-haired larvae feeding on a wide range on dead animal or plant matter. This makes them important decomposers, which clean up decaying organisms. Some however, most notoriously the Museum Beetle (A. museorum), are as significant pests as many other skin beetles, infesting stored goods and especially specimens in museum collections. These species have caused considerable damage to biology by destroying valuable type specimens.

Selected species

Subgenus Anthrenodes

  • Anthrenus ceylonicus
  • Anthrenus distinctus
  • Anthrenus guineaensis
  • Anthrenus israelicus
  • Anthrenus jordanicus
  • Anthrenus klapperichi
  • Anthrenus malkini
  • Anthrenus occultus
  • Anthrenus semenovi
    • Anthrenus semenovi var. rupestris
  • Anthrenus umbellatarum

Subgenus Anthrenops

  • Anthrenus bellulus
    • Anthrenus bellulus ornatus
  • Anthrenus cervenkai
  • Anthrenus eichleri
  • Anthrenus geisthardti
  • Anthrenus hissaricus
  • Anthrenus oculatus
  • Anthrenus splendidus
  • Anthrenus zebra

Subgenus Anthrenus

  • Anthrenus angustefasciatus
  • Anthrenus armstrongi
  • Anthrenus bartolozzii
  • Anthrenus botswaniensis
  • Anthrenus chiton Beal, 1998
  • Anthrenus delicatus Kiesenwetter, 1851
  • Anthrenus dorsatus
  • Anthrenus ethiopicus
  • Anthrenus festivus Erichson, 1846
  • Anthrenus flavidulus
  • Anthrenus flavipes J.L.LeConte, 1854 – Furniture Carpet Beetle
    • Anthrenus flavipes albopunctatus
  • Anthrenus goliath Mulsant & Rey, 1868
  • Anthrenus indicus
  • Anthrenus kantneri
  • Anthrenus katerinae
  • Anthrenus kenyaensis
  • Anthrenus latefasciatus
  • Anthrenus lepidus LeConte, 1854
  • Anthrenus merkli
  • Anthrenus mesopotamicus
  • Anthrenus miniopictus
  • Anthrenus munroi Hinton, 1943
  • Anthrenus namibicus
  • Anthrenus nipponensis
  • Anthrenus oceanicus Fauvel, 1903
  • Anthrenus parvus Casey, 1900
  • Anthrenus pfefferi
  • Anthrenus picturatus
    • Anthrenus picturatus arabicus
    • Anthrenus picturatus hintoni
    • Anthrenus picturatus makolskii
    • Anthrenus picturatus melanoleucus
  • Anthrenus pimpinellae Fabricius, 1775
    • Anthrenus pimpinellae isabellinus Kuester, 1848
    • Anthrenus pimpinellae mroczkowskii Kalík, 1954
  • Anthrenus rotundulus
  • Anthrenus scrophulariae (Linnaeus, 1758) – Common Carpet Beetle
    • Anthrenus scrophulariae var. albidus
    • Anthrenus scrophulariae var. gravidus
    • Anthrenus scrophulariae var. suecicus Palm, 1940
  • Anthrenus senegalensis
  • Anthrenus simonis
  • Anthrenus sophonisba Beal, 1998
  • Anthrenus tarnawskii
  • Anthrenus thoracicus Melsheimer, 1846
  • Anthrenus x-signum

Subgenus Florilinus

  • Anthrenus castaneae Melsheimer, 1846
  • Anthrenus caucasicus
  • Anthrenus coreanus
  • Anthrenus flavidus
  • Anthrenus hartmanni
  • Anthrenus mugodsharicus
  • Anthrenus museorum (Linnaeus, 1761) – Museum Beetle
  • Anthrenus oberthueri Reitter, 1881
  • Anthrenus olgae Kalík, 1946
  • Anthrenus pallidus
  • Anthrenus solskianus
  • Anthrenus sordidulus
  • Anthrenus sveci
  • Anthrenus tanakai
  • Anthrenus zhantievi

Subgenus Helocerus

  • Anthrenus fuscus A.G.Olivier, 1789
  • Anthrenus minutus Erichson, 1846
  • Anthrenus polonicus Mroczkowski, 1951

Subgenus Nathrenus

  • Anthrenus albomaculatus
  • Anthrenus albostictus
  • Anthrenus basilewskyi
  • Anthrenus biskrensis Reitter, 1887
  • Anthrenus boyesi
  • Anthrenus bulirschi
  • Anthrenus constantini
  • Anthrenus cordis
  • Anthrenus exilis
  • Anthrenus havai
  • Anthrenus kucerai
  • Anthrenus margarethae
  • Anthrenus mindanaoensis
  • Anthrenus nadeini
  • Anthrenus natalensis
  • Anthrenus obscurus
  • Anthrenus preissi
  • Anthrenus pubifer
  • Anthrenus schawalleri
  • Anthrenus signatus Erichson, 1846
    • Anthrenus signatus var. incanus
  • Anthrenus snizeki
  • Anthrenus stelma
  • Anthrenus transcaspicus
  • Anthrenus tryznai
  • Anthrenus undatus
  • Anthrenus zahradniki

Subgenus Ranthenus

  • Anthrenus alatauensis
  • Anthrenus kryzhanovskii
  • Anthrenus zeravshanicus

Subgenus Solskinus

  • Anthrenus assimilis
  • Anthrenus bucharicus
  • Anthrenus dsungaricus
  • Anthrenus jacobsoni
  • Anthrenus tadzhicus
  • Anthrenus talassicus

Subgenus undetermined

External links