Type deposited in NHRS
Synonyms (10)
Dermestes vulpinus Fabricius, 1781
synonym
Dermestes marginatus Thunberg, 1781
synonym
Dermestes senex Germar, 1824
synonym
Dermestes elongatus Hope in Pettigrew, 1834
synonym
Dermestes lupinus Eschscholtz in Mannerheim, 1843
synonym
Dermestes cinereus Redtenbacher, 1867
synonym
Dermestes sudanicus Gredler, 1878
synonym
synonym
synonym
synonym
Citations & References (53)
Type / Badges
Page
DeGeer C. (1774). Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire des insectes. A. Stockholm: De l'imprimerie de Pierre Hesselberg (No. 4), 457 pp.
Original Description
p. 223
Fabricius J.C. (1781). Species Insectorum exhibentes eorum differentias specificas, synonyma auctorum, loca natalia, metamorphosin adiectis observationibus, descriptionibus. Hamburg: C. E. Bohn (No. 1), pp. viii + 1-552.
= Dermestes vulpinus
Synonym Description
p. 64
Thunberg C.P. (1781). Dissertatio Entomologica novas Insectorum species, sistens. Cujus Partem Primam. Upsaliae: J. F. Edman, 28 pp.
= Dermestes marginatus
Synonym Description
p. 7
Dejean P.F.M.A. (1821). Catalogue de la collection de Coléoptères de M. le Baron Dejean. Paris: Crevot.
as Dermestes australis
p. 46
GERMAR E. F. 1824: Insectorum Species novae aut minus cognitae, descriptionibus illustratae. I - Coleoptera. Halae: J. C. Hendelii & Filii, xxiv + 624 pp., 2 pls.
= Dermestes senex
Synonym Description
p. 84
STURM J. 1826: Catalog meiner Insecten - Sammlung. Erster Theil. Käfer. Nürnberg: J. Sturm, 8 + 207 + 16 pp., 4 pls.
as Dermestes lateralis
p. 130
Dejean P.F.M.A. (1833). Catalogue de la collection de Coléoptères de M. le Baron Dejean. Paris: Méquignon-Mavris Pére et Fils, pp. 1-4 + 1-384.
as Dermestes australis MacLeay
p. 124
HOPE F. W. 1834a: Dermestidae. In: PETTIGREW T. J.: A History of Egyptian Mummies. London: Longman & al. Édit., 264 pp.
= Dermestes elongatus
Synonym Description
p. 55
Boisduval J.B.A.D.D. (1835). Voyage de Découvertes l'Astrolabe exécuté par order du Roi, pendant les Anées 1826-1827-1829-1829, sous le commandement de M. J. Dumont d’Urville. Faune entomologique de l‘Océan Pacifique, avec l'illustration des insectes nouveaux recueillis pendant le voyage. Deuxième partie. Coléoptères et autres ordres. Paris: J. Tastu.
as Dermestes australis MacLeay
p. 146
Mannerheim C.G. (1843). Beitrag zur Kaefer-Fauna der Aleutischen Inseln, der Insel Sitkha und Neu-Californiens. Bulletin de la Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou 16: 175-314.
= Dermestes lupinus
Synonym Description
p. 257
Villa A., Villa G.B. (1844). Insetti della Lombardia. In: Notizie naturali e civili sulla Lombardia. Milano: G. Berdardoni, pp. 406-478.
as Dermestes vulpinus var. senex Dahl [sic!]
p. 38
Bohman C.H. (1851). Insecta Caffrariae annis 1838-1845 a J. A. Wahlberg collecta. Coleoptera pars I. fasc. II. Holmiae: Ex Officina Norstedtiana, pp. 299-625.
as Dermestes semistriatus
p. 583
Galeazzi G. (1854). Coleoptera Europae dupleta que pro mutua commutatione offeri possunt. Milano: Contrada della Passione (No. 247), 19 pp.
as Dermestes vulpinus var. senex Dahl [sic!]
p. 8
LeConte J.L. (1854). Synopsis of the Dermestidae of the United States. Proceedings of the Academy of the Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 7: 106-113.
= Dermestes lupinus (as Dermestes vulpinus var. lupinus)
p. 109
Redtenbacher L. (1868). Familie Dermestidae. In: Reise der österreichischen Fregatte Novara um die Erde in den Jahren 1857, 1858, 1859 unter den Befehlen des Commodore B. von Wüllerstorf-Urbair. Wien: Karl Gerold's Sohn, pp. iv + 249.
= Dermestes cinereus
Synonym Description
p. 43
Mulsant E., Rey C. (1868). Histoire Naturelle des Coléopteres de France. Paris: F. Savy, 186 pp.
as Dermestes rattulus
p. 30
Gredler V.P. (1878). Zur Käfer-Fauna Central-Afrikas. Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich-Königlichen Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien 27: 501-522.
= Dermestes sudanicus (as Dermestes vulpinus var. sudanicus)
Synonym Description
p. 506
Reitter E. (1906). Dermestidae, Thorictidae, Cantharidae. In: Heyden L.F.J.D.V., Reitter E., Weise J. (eds.), Catalous Coleopterorum Europae, Caucasi et Armeniae Rossicae. Berlin: R. Friedländer & Sohn, pp. 8 + 775 columns + 750-774.
= Dermestes senex (as Dermestes vulpinus var. senex)
p. 377
Dalla Torre K.W. (1911). Coleopterorum Catalogus. Pars 33: Nosodendridae, Byrrhidae, Dermestidae. Berlin: W. Junk (Coleopterorum Catalogus), 96 pp.
as Dermestes vulpinus var. rattulus
p. 50
MATSUMURA S. 1915: Dai Nippon Gaichu Zensho. Tokyo: Rokumeikan, 308 + 96 pp.
= Dermestes vulpinus (as Dermesters vnlpinus [sic!])
p. 85
Casey T.L. (1916). Some random studies among the Clavicornia. Dermestidae. Memoirs on the Coleoptera. VII. Lancaster, PA: New Era Printing Co., pp. 1-300.
= Dermestes truncatus
Synonym Description
p. 180
Lepesme P. (1939). Note synonymique sur les Dermestes (Coleoptera) et description d'une espece et d'une varieté nouvelles. Bulletin de la Société Entomologique de France 44: 190-193.
= Dermestes kurseongensis (as Dermestes maculatus var. kurseongensis)
Synonym Description
p. 192
Hinton H.E. (1945). A Monograph of the Beetles Associated with Stored Products. London: Order of the Trustees of the British Museum (No. 1), viii+443 pp.
Immature / Larva
p. 250
Rees B.E. (1947). Taxonomy of the larvae of some North American species of the genus Dermestes (Coleoptera, Dermestidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 49: 1-14.
Immature / Larva
p. 13
Lepesme P. (1949). Révision des Dermestes (Col. Dermestidae). Annales de la Société entomologique de France 115(1): 37-68.
as Dermestes maculatus ab. rattulus
p. 46
= Dermestes kurseongensis —
Elevated to full species (from subspecies of D. maculatus)
Status Change
p. 48
Havelka J. (1951). Dermestes maculatus pakistanicus ssp. n. introduced from Pakistan to Č.S R. (3rd contribution to knowledge of Dermestes L.) (Coleoptera, Dermestidae). Folia Entomologica 14: 143-144.
= Dermestes maculatus pakistanicus
Synonym Description
p. 143
Kalík V., de Witte G.F., Adams W., Janssens A., van Meel L., Verheyen R. (1955). Dermestidae, In: Parc National de L'Upemba. Fascicule 38(6): 93-99.
= Dermestes vulpinus (as Dermestes maculatus vulpinus)
—
p. 93
GABEL H. H. 1955: Beitrag zur Kenntnis der Biologie des Speckkäfers D. vulpinus F. Zeitschrift für Angewandte Entomologie 37: 153-191.
= Dermestes vulpinus (as Dermestes maculatus vulpinus)
p. 94
QUENTIN R. M. 1955: Inventaire des Collections systematiques du centre de faunistique (Section Afrique Noire). Entomologie Agricole No 2253. Paris: Office de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique Outre-Mer, 80 pp.
as Dermestes vulpinus v. gattulus [sic!]
p. 5
Kalík V. (1955). Dermestidae der aethiophischen Region aus der Sammlungen des Königl. Museum von Belgisch Kongo in Tervuren (Mit Bemerkungen über verwandte Arten). Revue de Zoologie et de Botanique Africaines 52: 294-322.
= Dermestes vulpinus (as Dermestes maculatus vulpinus, D. maculatus vulpinus ab. nigropubescens) —
ab. nigropubescens is described
—
p. 295
Beal R.S. (1961). Insects of Micronesia, Coleoptera: Dermestidae. Honolulu: Bernice P. Bishop Museum (Insects of Micronesia, 16), pp. 109-131.
= Dermestes sudanicus (as Dermestes maculatus) —
[Editorial note: Listed among other synonyms but it's not clear when it first appeared before Beal. Possibly, Beal automatically treated all previous varieties as synonyms]
Taxonomic Note
p. 115
= Dermestes truncatus (as Dermestes maculatus)
Synonymy
p. 115
Shaw D.D. (1966). The inheritance of two mutations, “pearl” and “fuscous” in Dermestes maculatus de Geer (Coleoptera, Dermestidae). Journal of Stored Products Research 1(3): 261-265.
as Dermestes vulpinus ab. rattulus
p. 264
Mroczkowski M. (1968). Distribution of the Dermestidae (Coleoptera) of the world with a catalogue of all known species. Annales Zoologici 26(3): 15-191.
= Dermestes kurseongensis
Catalogue
p. 55
as Dermestes maculatus ab. nigropubescens
p. 56
= Dermestes maculatus pakistanicus
Catalogue
p. 56
= Dermestes cinereus (as Dermestes maculatus senex) —
Synonymy per Kalik in litt.
Synonymy
p. 57
Prins A.J. (1984). Morphological and biological notes on some South African Arthropods associated with decaying matter. Part 3. The families Dermestidae, Cantharidae, Melyridae, Tenebrionidae and Scarabaeidae (Coleoptera). Annal of the South African Museum 94(4): 203-304.
Immature / Larva
p. 214
LI H. 1988: Dermestidae pp. 357-360. In.: HUANG F., WANG P., YIN W., YU P., LEE T., YANG C., WANG X. [eds.]: Insects of Mt. Namjagbarwa region of Xizang. Beijing: Science Press, 621 pp. (in Chinese, English summary)
as Dermestes meculatus [sic!]
p. 358
Peacock E.R. (1993). Adults and larvae of hide, larder, and carpet beetles and their relatives (Coleoptera: Dermestidae) and of Derodontid beetle (Coleoptera: Derodontidae). Royal Entomological Society of London (No. 3), pp. 1-144.
Immature / LarvaIdentification Key
—
Hava J. (1999). Contribution to the knowledge of the Old World Dermestidae (Coleoptera). Part 1: Genus Dermestes. Folia Heyrovskyana 7(2): 133-140.
as Dermestes maculatus —
"Variability" of the species D. maculatus is discussed
p. 134
= Dermestes maculatus pakistanicus (as Dermestes maculatus)
Synonymy
p. 134
Zhantiev R.D., Volkova T.G. (1999). Личинки жуков-кожеедов рода Dermestes (Coleoptera, Dermestidae) России и сопредельных стран. 2. подрод Dermestinus. [Larvae of Dermestid beetles from the Genus Dermestes (Coleoptera, Dermestidae) in Russia and adjacent countries. 2. Dermestinus subgenus.]. Zoologicheskiy Zhurnal 78: 170-180.
Immature / Larva
p. 174
HUA LI-ZHONG 2002: List of Chinese Insects. Vol. II. Zhongshan (Sun Yat-sen) University Press, Guangzhou China, 612 pp.
as Dermestes maculata [sic!]
p. 101
Háva J. (2003). World Catalogue of the Dermestidae (Coleoptera). Brandýs nad Labem (Studie a Zprávy Oblastního Muzea Praha-východ v Brandýse nad Labem a Staré Boleslavi, Supplementum), pp. 1-196.
= Dermestes kurseongensis (as Dermestes maculatus) —
Dermestes maculatus ( = Dermestes kurseongensis syn. nov.); no reasoning is provided
Synonymy
p. 19
Háva J. (2007). Dermestidae. In: Löbl I., Smetana A. (eds.), Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera. Volume 4. Elateroidea - Derodontoidea - Bostrichoidea - Lymexyloidea - Cleroidea - Cucujoidea. Stenstrup: Apollo Books, pp. 57, 299-320.
as Dermestes (Dermestinus) maculatus —
Shows full Palearctic distributions (other editions have it shortened to continents)
DistributionCatalogue
p. 301
JIANG S., JI Y., QU CH., MA T. & DING B. 2012: A list of Insects on stored tradtional Chinese medicinal (TCM) materials in Anhui Province of China. Plant Diseases and Pests 3(5-6): 16-18.
as Dermestes maculates [sic!]
p. 16
Díaz-Aranda L.M., Martín-Vega D., Baz A., Cifrián B. (2018). Larval identification key to necrophagous Coleoptera of medico-legal importance in the western Palaearctic. International Journal of Legal Medicine 132(6): 1795-1804.
Immature / LarvaIdentification Key
—
Amr Z.S. (2021). The state of biodiversity in Kuwait.
= Dermestes vulpinus (as Dermestes vulpinus [sic!])
p. 188
Al-Saffar H.H., Augul R.S. (2022). Survey and revision of storage insects from several localities of Iraq. GSC Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences 20(3): 175-186.
as Dermestes maculates [sic!]
p. 181
Henríquez-Valido P., Santana J., Morquecho-Izquier A., Rodríguez-Rodríguez A., Huchet J.B. (2025). Insects in the far West: Burial practices on El Hierro Island (Canary Islands, Spain; ca. 6th-11th centuries) reconstructed via funerary archaeoentomology. Journal of Archaeological Science 173(106120): 1-11.
Paleontology
p. 5, Fig. 3i
Henríquez-Valido P., Brito-Mayor A., Rodríguez-Rodríguez A., Morales J., Santana J., Brito-Abrante I., Huchet J.B. (2026). Decomposing in the dark. Experimental approaches to funerary archaeoentomology in volcanic caves. Forensic Science International: Synergy 12(100653): 1-15.
Dermestes frischii on figure [misidentified as D. maculatus; but likely both species present on the research site, D. maculatus was determined by spine of the elytra by authors - P. Henríquez-Valido, pers. comm., 20 May 2026]
Paleontology
p. 4
Biology
Larva: Rees, 1947:13 ;Prins, 1984:214 ;Peacock, 1993 ;Díaz-Aranda et al., 2018 ;Zhantiev & Volkova, 1999:174 ;Hinton, 1945:250

Distribution

Africa

America (South & Central)

Asia

Australia & Oceania

Europe

North America

Taxon details

iNaturalist Gallery (Dermestes maculatus)

[ Preliminary identifications ]
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