Distribution of beetles of the genus Trilobium (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) in stored foodstuffs in Queensland

Abstract

During an investigation of stored foodstuff pests in Queensland in 1942 and 1943, two species of the genus Trilobium - T. castaneum Herbst., the rust red flour beetle, and T. confusum J du C., the confused flour beetle - were commonly encountered. The distribution of these two insects differed to some extent from that in the southern States of Australia, where T. castaneum is the more important pest of wheat grain, while T. confusum alone occurs in flour (Miller, 1946; Nicholson, 1942).