Species group: ater

These are the dichotomous keys to identify species of Dermestes (Coleoptera; Dermestidae) on a worldwide scale.

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1a. Body brown to brown-black; abdomen are covered in light hairs with regular patches of dark hairs towards the sides and sometimes each side of the midline each sternite; the scutellum is covered with dark hairs scattered with paler yellowish hairs in between; base of the pronotum without a border in the middle; broader, more oval shaped.

→ Dermestes ater


1b. Body black; abdomen are shiny and a dark shagreen colour; the scutellum is covered in coarse, golden-yellow hairs; pronotum more strongly downward-curved, less rounded anterior angles (outline of pronotum looks cut straight off at the front), with fine, dense punctation; base of the pronotum completely bordered.

→ Dermestes palmi

Extra information:

Perhaps you notice the two horizontal stripes on the pronotum of the drawing and photo of Dermestes ater on the right. Most commonly, no pattern is visible on the pronotum of D.ater, but sometimes when more brown hairs are pesent, a pattern suddently can prevail. There seems to be a gradient that goes from a pronotum uniformly covered in it's usual short white hairs, to a pronotum with two horizontal stripes of brown hairs, to a pronotum with a more complex pattern of brown hairs, to a pronotum fully covered in reddish brown hairs.

There is more information and photos about this colour variety of D. ater in this blog post.

Used images:

Images key 1a (dorsal and abdomen) and 1b (abdomen):
- Herrmann A. no date: Pictures of some Dermestid Species. Link.

Image of key 1b (dorsal and pronotum):
- lisätiedot N. no date: Ihrakuoriaiset – Dermestes. Link.

Image of key 1a (pronotum):
- Pest and Diseases Image Library, no date: Image Number: 5460442, black larder beetle (Dermestes ater De Geer, 1774). Link.

Extra information (drawing):
- Robinson W. H. 2005: Urban insects and arachnids. A handbook of urban entomology. New York: Cambridge University, 472 p. Link.

Extra information (photo):
- Humpage A. 2025: Dermestes ater. Link.

Used literature:

- (1a) Hackston, M. 2021: Key for the identification of British Dermestidae. Link.
- (1a and 1b) Zhantiev R. D. 1976: Жуки-кожееды (семейство Dermestidae) фауны СССР. [The skin eaters family Dermestidae of fauna of the USSR.] Moskva: Izdatelstvo Moskovskogo Universiteta, 180 p. Link.
- (1a and 1b) Sjöberg O. 1950: Drei neue Kaefer aus der borealen Region Schwedens. Entomologisk Tidskrift 71: 159-164. Link.

Made by Sarah Mahie

Created on: 30-12-2025

Latest update: 17-01-2026