Tenebrio Explained

Tenebrio is a genus of darkling beetles. Adults are 12mm18mm long and can live for 1–2 years. The larvae are minor pests, but they are also widely reared and sold as pet food.^[1]

Species

The genus contains the following extant species:^{[1] [2]}

• Tenebrio culinaris
• Tenebrio guineensis
• Tenebrio giganteus
• Tenebrio grandicollis
• Tenebrio molitor – yellow mealworm
• Tenebrio obscurus – dark mealworm
• Tenebrio opacus
• Tenebrio patrizii
• Tenebrio punctipennis
• Tenebrio zairensis

Four species are known from fossils found in Germany and Canada:^{[3] [4]}

• Tenebrio calculensis - (Pleistocene, Leda Clay, Canada)
• Tenebrio effossus - (Oligocene, Rott Formation, Germany)
• Tenebrio primigenius - (Ypresian, Allenby Formation, Canada)
• Tenebrio senex - (Oligocene, Rott Formation, Germany)

Notes and References

1. Book: Rees, David . Insects of Stored Products. 21 July 2004. CSIRO Publishing. 978-0-643-10263-7. 112–113.
2. Web site: Genus Tenebrio. . 2017-08-16. Insecta.pro. Insects catalog Insecta.pro, 2007—2022. 2022-08-23.
3. Web site: †Tenebrio Linnaeus 1758 . Paleobiology Database . Fossilworks . 17 December 2021.
4. Scudder . S. H . 1895 . Canadian fossil insects, myriapods and arachnids, Vol II. The Coleoptera hitherto found fossil in Canada . Geological Survey of Canada Contributions to Canadian Palaeontology . 2 . 5–26.