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Beetles

Small hive beetle
Aethina tumida (Murray) (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae: Nitidulinae)

Status
Exotic (established in Australia) Pest Species

Dorsal view Zoomify

Caption: Queensland. Palmwood, 19 May 2004, C. Smith, in bee hive

Source: Simon Hinkley & Ken Walker Museum Victoria

Adults are broad, flattened beetles about 5.7 mm long, 3.2 mm wide and dark brown to nearly black in color. Adults are red just after pupation and soon thereafter become blackish. They move rapidly across comb and are difficult to pick up. The larvae are elongate, whitish grubs with rows of small spines along the back. Larvae look superficially like wax moth larvae, but the legs of beetle larvae are larger, more pronounced, and restricted to near the head. Beetle larvae do not spin webs or cocoons in the bee hive but rather pupate in the soil outside the hive. Pupae are whitish brown.

Source:

See weblink: The Bugwood Network

PaDIL Links:
Common Honeybee (Apis mellifera)
Large hive beetle (Oplostomus fuligineus)

Specimen contact point: QDPIF - Brisbane

Citation: Walker, K. (2009) Small hive beetle (Aethina tumida) Pest and Diseases Image Library. Updated on 6/1/2009 3:04:29 PM. Available online: http://www.padil.gov.au

Created Date: 1/24/2006 12:22:38 PM

Last Updated: 6/1/2009 3:04:29 PM

Diagnostic Images
Elytra	Head Front	Head Side	Pronotum
Thorax Side
Overview Images
Dorsal	Lateral	Posterior	Ventral
Other Images
Larva - dorsal	Larva - head side	Larva - lateral	Larva - ventral