Gastrallus

Small to medium-sized ptinid beetles; specific diagnostic features for the genus require examination of morphological characters not detailed in available sources. Species-level identification relies on subtle differences in body shape, punctation patterns, and antennal structure.

Anthropogenic environments including historic libraries, archives, and museums; also occurs in natural settings. Species have been documented infesting books, paper, palm leaf manuscripts, and other cellulose-based materials.

Nearly worldwide except Australia and Central and South America; Palearctic realm contains approximately half of described species. Documented from Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America. Specific records include Italy, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Thailand, Japan, and various African countries.

Cellulose-based materials including books, paper, and starch glue; some species bore into wood.

• Heterospilus sicanus - ectoparasitoidBraconid wasp; first confirmed host record from Gastrallus pubens in Italy

Boring into books and paper products, creating frass, holes, and tunnels. Infests stored cultural heritage materials in tropical and temperate regions.

Pest of stored cellulose-based materials in anthropogenic environments; host for parasitoid wasps.

Significant pest of libraries, archives, and museums; damages books, manuscripts, and paper collections. Gastrallus pubens and G. laticollis are specifically documented as library pests.

• Lasioderma serricorneAlso a ptinid pest of stored materials; distinguished by different body form and antennal club structure
• Stegobium paniceumCo-occurs in library environments; requires morphological examination for separation

• Ptinidae
• library pest
• cultural heritage pest
• book borer
• stored product pest
• Palearctic
• cosmopolitan distribution
• ectoparasitoid host

• BugGuide
• Wikipedia
• GBIF taxonomy match
• iNaturalist taxon
• NCBI Taxonomy
• First record of Gastrallus laticollis pic 1929 (coleoptera: Bostrichoidea: Ptinidae) in Sri Lanka
• The ectoparasitoid wasp Heterospilus sicanus (Marshall, 1888) (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Doryctinae) as a natural enemy of Gastrallus pubens Fairmaire, 1875 (Coleoptera, Ptinidae) in Italy
• Figure 5 from: Belokobylskij SA, Guarino S, Savoldelli S, Jucker C, Peri E, Broad GR, Cerasa G (2024) The ectoparasitoid wasp Heterospilus sicanus (Marshall, 1888) (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Doryctinae) as a natural enemy of Gastrallus pubens Fairmaire, 1875 (Coleoptera, Ptinidae) in Italy. ZooKeys 1201: 233-253. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1201.118549
• Figure 3 from: Belokobylskij SA, Guarino S, Savoldelli S, Jucker C, Peri E, Broad GR, Cerasa G (2024) The ectoparasitoid wasp Heterospilus sicanus (Marshall, 1888) (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Doryctinae) as a natural enemy of Gastrallus pubens Fairmaire, 1875 (Coleoptera, Ptinidae) in Italy. ZooKeys 1201: 233-253. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1201.118549
• Figure 6 from: Belokobylskij SA, Guarino S, Savoldelli S, Jucker C, Peri E, Broad GR, Cerasa G (2024) The ectoparasitoid wasp Heterospilus sicanus (Marshall, 1888) (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Doryctinae) as a natural enemy of Gastrallus pubens Fairmaire, 1875 (Coleoptera, Ptinidae) in Italy. ZooKeys 1201: 233-253. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1201.118549
• Figure 4 from: Belokobylskij SA, Guarino S, Savoldelli S, Jucker C, Peri E, Broad GR, Cerasa G (2024) The ectoparasitoid wasp Heterospilus sicanus (Marshall, 1888) (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Doryctinae) as a natural enemy of Gastrallus pubens Fairmaire, 1875 (Coleoptera, Ptinidae) in Italy. ZooKeys 1201: 233-253. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1201.118549
• Figure 2 from: Belokobylskij SA, Guarino S, Savoldelli S, Jucker C, Peri E, Broad GR, Cerasa G (2024) The ectoparasitoid wasp Heterospilus sicanus (Marshall, 1888) (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Doryctinae) as a natural enemy of Gastrallus pubens Fairmaire, 1875 (Coleoptera, Ptinidae) in Italy. ZooKeys 1201: 233-253. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1201.118549
• Figure 1 from: Belokobylskij SA, Guarino S, Savoldelli S, Jucker C, Peri E, Broad GR, Cerasa G (2024) The ectoparasitoid wasp Heterospilus sicanus (Marshall, 1888) (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Doryctinae) as a natural enemy of Gastrallus pubens Fairmaire, 1875 (Coleoptera, Ptinidae) in Italy. ZooKeys 1201: 233-253. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1201.118549