Sawtoothed grain beetle
| Oryzaephilus surinamensis | |
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Not evaluated (IUCN 3.1)
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Subfamily: | Silvanidae |
| Genus: | Oryzaephilus |
| Species: | O. surinamensis |
| Binomial name | |
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Oryzaephilus surinamensis (Linnaeus, 1758) |
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Oryzaephilus surinamensis, the sawtoothed grain beetle, is a beetle in the superfamily Cucujidae. It is a common, worldwide pest of grain and grain products as well as fruit, chocolate, drugs, and tobacco. The specie's binomial name- meaning "rice-lover from Surinam- was coined by Carl Linnaeus, who received specimens of the beetle from Surinam.
O. surinamensis is a slender, dark brown beetle 2.4–3 mm in size, with characteristic "teeth" running down the side of the prothorax. It is nearly identical to Oryzaephilus mercator, or the Merchant Grain Beetle, however, O. surinamensis has smaller eyes and a broader, more triangular head;O. surinamensis unlike O. mercator are unable to fly.
O. surinamensis can be found worldwide. The beetle is one of the most commonly encounted stored product pests and is widespread within the food industry and can be found in food manufacturing, storage, and retail facilities, as well as in home pantries.O. surinamensis is less common in colder climates such as Canada and the Northern United State
A female can produce 43-285 eggs in their six to ten month average lifespan which are deposited on a food mass. The ideal temperature range for larvae development within eggs is about 27-29°C (80-85°F), under such conditions they hatch in three to five days.
Larva are yellow-white with brown heads and grow up to 3mm. They crawl freely around the food mass and feed on broken pieces of grain or grain kernels damaged by other insects, larger larvae may bore into kernals. Larvae account for the majority of damage done to grain. Larvae molt two to four times before pupation
Larvae pupate by constructing cocoon-like coverings using broken pieces of grain. Emergence as adults occurs after about one week
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Wikipedia