Abstract/Summary

Some species of Dermestidae (Coleoptera) are pests of stored commodities or natural history museums, or are species of forensic significance. For these species, a lot of research has been carried out into their feeding habits. For the genus Anthrenus Geoffroy, 1762 pest species, we know what they will feed on or how long their development takes under different conditions, but rather less about the growth curves followed during development. For non-pest Anthrenus species, we know hardly anything about their feeding habits, let alone development periods and growth curves. In the current study, adult Anthrenus amandae Holloway, 2019, Anthrenus angustefasciatus Ganglbauer, 1904, and Anthrenus isabellinus Küster, 1848 from Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Spain) were placed on dry feathers and dead insects to assess developmental performance. All species developed on feathers, but only A. angustefasciatus was able to develop through to adult on dead insects. The developmental curves and relative growth rates of the three species on feathers are presented. Anthrenus amandae develops the fastest of the three species, whilst A. isabellinus was the slowest. Pupal weights and weight at adult eclosion from the final larval case were measured. Weight lost by adults whilst quiescent within the final larval case is linearly related to the length of time spent within the final larval case. Quiescing adults lose 0.2% of the weight accumulated during development per day.