Opatroides
Brullé, 1832
Opatroides is a of ( ) comprising at least three described . The genus includes economically significant stored product pests, particularly Opatroides punctulatus, which has established in North America. Some species serve as intermediate for poultry . The genus is distributed across multiple biogeographic regions including the Palearctic, Afrotropic, Indomalaya, and Nearctic.
Pronunciation
How to pronounce Opatroides: //ˌoʊpæˈtrɔɪdiːz//
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Habitat
Mediterranean climates between 30°N and 45°N with hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters; stored product environments including date warehouses and fig stores; poultry farms.
Distribution
to Old World (Palearctic, Afrotropic, Indomalaya); in North America with confirmed records in the Pacific Northwest including southwest Idaho, USA; northeastern Iran; Tamil Nadu, India; Tiberias, Israel.
Diet
; stored products including dates, figs, carobs, raisins, wheat, barley, and rice.
Host Associations
- Raillietina cesticillus - intermediate Opatroides frater harbors cysticercoids of this poultry tapeworm
- Podapolipus khorasanicus - Ectoparasitic found on abdominal tergites of Opatroides punctulatus
Life Cycle
with , larval, pupal, and stages. Development rate increases with temperature, optimal range 30–35°C. Multiple per year under favorable warm conditions.
Behavior
Both and feed on and contaminate stored products with . Expanding range in North America with potential to displace .
Ecological Role
Pest of stored products in anthropogenic environments; intermediate for poultry tapeworms facilitating transmission to chickens; potential competitor to in invaded ranges.
Human Relevance
Economic pest of stored dates, figs, grains, and dried fruits; potential threat to diversity in North America; for poultry tapeworm Raillietina cesticillus affecting chicken health.
More Details
Species composition
Three described : Opatroides punctulatus Brullé, 1832; Opatroides thoracicus (Rosenhauer, 1856); Opatroides vicinus Fairmaire, 1896. Most biological information derives from O. punctulatus; -level generalizations should be treated cautiously.
Adventive spread
Opatroides punctulatus detected in the United States over 20 years ago; 2025 record from southwest Idaho expands known range >500 km northeast from previous Pacific Northwest reports.
Sources and further reading
- BugGuide
- Wikipedia
- GBIF taxonomy match
- iNaturalist taxon
- NCBI Taxonomy
- Catalogue of Life
- The Life History and Feeding Habits of Opatroides punctulatus1 in Tiberias, Israel
- Ground beetle, Opatroides frater (Coleoptera) as natural intermediate host for the poultry tapeworm, Raillietina cesticillus
- First report of the darkling beetle, Opatroides punctulatus Brullé, 1832 (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae) in Idaho, USA, an expanding adventive species in the Pacific Northwest
- Podapolipus khorasanicus n. sp. (Acari: Podapolipidae), an Ectoparasite of Opatroides punctulatus (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), with Notes on World Distribution and Host Range of the Beetle-Associates of Podapolipus spp.