# Anthrenus museorum

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{{Short description|Species of beetle}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Anthrenus-museorum-05-fws.jpg
| image_caption = Male beetle
| image2 = Anthrenus-museorum-13-fws.jpg
| image2_caption = Female beetle (underside)
| genus = Anthrenus
| parent = Florilinus
| species = museorum
| authority = ([Linnaeus](/source/Carl_Linnaeus), 1761)
}}

'''''Anthrenus museorum''''', commonly known as the '''museum beetle''', is a species of [beetle](/source/beetle) found in the [Palearctic](/source/Palearctic) (including [Europe](/source/Europe)), the [Near East](/source/Near_East) and the [Nearctic](/source/Nearctic). In its larval form it damages all forms of dry skin and hair. The larva will also eat dry cheese, flour or cocoa occasionally.<ref name=inra>{{cite web|url=http://www.inra.fr/opie-insectes/d-antmus.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429200223/http://www.inra.fr/opie-insectes/d-antmus.htm |archive-date=2009-04-29 |title=Anthrène des musées |url-status=dead }}</ref> It is considered a pest, as it damages, among others, the skin of [taxidermied animals](/source/taxidermy), such as polar bears and big cats in museums.<ref name="Browne2015">{{cite book|author=Montagu Browne|title=Practical Taxidermy - A Manual of Instruction to the Amateur in Collecting, Preserving, and Setting up Natural History Specimens of All Kinds. To Which is Added a Chapter Upon the Pictorial Arrangement of Museums|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hMF9CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT211|date=31 July 2015|publisher=Read Books Limited|isbn=978-1-4733-7689-2|page=211}}</ref><ref>Strang, T. J. K. "Session 7: Museum Pests." Available from: [http://spiru.cgahr.ksu.edu/proj/iwcspp/pdf2/11/108.pdf http://spiru.cgahr.ksu.edu/proj/iwcspp/pdf2/11/108.pdf]</ref>
thumb|left|Larva
The larva is yellowish, hairy, and measures {{convert|4.5|mm|in}}. The dorsal surface of the [prothorax](/source/prothorax) is brownish. At its rear end, it has three pairs of long antenna.<!-- french: À l'extrémité postérieure, convergeant vers la région axiale, on remarque 3 paires de pinceaux de soie.--> The adult measures 2 to 4&nbsp;mm. It has a round shape and its dark [elytra](/source/elytron) are spotted with bright colors. It lives for one or two weeks, outdoors, on plants. It prefers the flowers of [Asteraceae](/source/Asteraceae), [Apiaceae](/source/Apiaceae) and [Scrophulariaceae](/source/Scrophulariaceae). To lay eggs, the female seeks nooks, carpets, flooring or wool to hide and to assure a food supply for the larvae. She lays forty eggs at a time once a year.<ref name=inra/>
{{Clear|left}}

==Range==
Generally cosmopolitan (appears in Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and Australia). In Europe, it is known from [Albania](/source/Albania), [Austria](/source/Austria), [Belarus](/source/Belarus), [Belgium](/source/Belgium), [Bosnia and Herzegovina](/source/Bosnia_and_Herzegovina), [Bulgaria](/source/Bulgaria), [Croatia](/source/Croatia), the [Czech Republic](/source/Czech_Republic), mainland [Denmark](/source/Denmark), [Estonia](/source/Estonia), [Finland](/source/Finland), mainland [France](/source/France), [Germany](/source/Germany), [Great Britain including the Isle of Man](/source/Britain_I.), mainland [Greece](/source/Greece), [Hungary](/source/Hungary), mainland [Italy](/source/Italy), [Kaliningrad](/source/Kaliningrad), [Latvia](/source/Latvia), [Liechtenstein](/source/Liechtenstein), [Lithuania](/source/Lithuania), [Luxembourg](/source/Luxembourg), [Moldova](/source/Moldova), [North Macedonia](/source/North_Macedonia), mainland [Norway](/source/Norway), [Poland](/source/Poland), mainland [Portugal](/source/Portugal), [Romania](/source/Romania), [Russia](/source/Russia), [Sardinia](/source/Sardinia), [Slovakia](/source/Slovakia), [Slovenia](/source/Slovenia), mainland [Spain](/source/Spain), [Sweden](/source/Sweden), [Switzerland](/source/Switzerland), the [Netherlands](/source/Netherlands), [Ukraine](/source/Ukraine), [Turkey](/source/Turkey), [Yugoslavia](/source/Yugoslavia).<ref name="urlFaunaEuropaea">{{cite web |url=http://www.faunaeur.org/full_results.php?id=413733 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150725132038/http://www.faunaeur.org/full_results.php?id=413733 |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 25, 2015 |title=''Anthrenus museorum'' at Fauna Europaea : Taxon Details |format= |accessdate=2013-03-18}}</ref><ref name="GBIF">{{cite web |url=http://data.gbif.org/species/1095904/ |title=''Anthrenus museorum'' at Global Biodiversity Information Facility |format= |accessdate=2013-03-18}}</ref>

==See also==
* [Carpet beetle](/source/Carpet_beetle_(disambiguation))
* ''[Anthrenus fuscus](/source/Anthrenus_fuscus)'' (commonly confused species)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
{{Wikispecies}}
*[http://museumpests.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/museum-beetle-fact-sheet.pdf Museumpest.net Museum Beetle Factsheet]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q1300391}}

museorum
Category:Palearctic insects
Category:Beetles described in 1761
Category:Pest insects
Category:Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
Category:Storage pests
Category:Necrophages

{{Anthrenus-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Anthrenus museorum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthrenus_museorum) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthrenus_museorum?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.