Anthrenus


Anthrenus is a genus of beetles in the family Dermestidae, the skin beetles. One of 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 beetles a few millimetres long 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, are significant pests, infesting stored goods and especially biological specimens in museum collections. These species have caused considerable damage to biology by destroying valuable type specimens. Their larvae may cause considerable damage on wool, fur, feathers, and natural history collections.

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

, probably male
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 - 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 - 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