Alphitobius diaperinus
(Panzer, 1797) · speciesAt a glance
Sources10 archives
Databases and archives Alphitobius diaperinus's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation7 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility3 550 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI328 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics338 specimens↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
GoaTGenomes on a Tree · Sangergenome & karyotype↗
Tree of SexTree of Sex Consortiumgenome & karyotype↗
Catalogue of LifeCOLtaxonomy↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
Alphitobius diaperinus is a species of beetle in the family Tenebrionidae, the darkling beetles. It is known commonly as the lesser mealworm and the litter beetle. It has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring nearly worldwide. It is known widely as a pest insect of stored food grain products such as flour, and of poultry-rearing facilities. It is a vector of many kinds of animal pathogens.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
No structured trait data for this taxon yet.
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Alphitobius diaperinus has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
Besides the big genome in the nucleus, cells carry a small, circular loop of DNA inside the cell's energy factories — the mitochondria. It is inherited almost only from the mother and is a leftover from ancient bacteria that moved into the cell. The mitochondrial markers above (ND*, COX, CYTB…) are read from exactly this loop. Outer ring = one strand, inner ring = the other.
The complete instruction manual Alphitobius diaperinus carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is
Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
2n 193×GoaT · Animal Chromosome Counts Database · GoaT · Tree of Sex Database · GoaT · Coleoptera Karyotype Database
2n 203×GoaT · Animal Chromosome Counts Database · GoaT · Tree of Sex Database · TreeOfSex · invert
diploid1×GoaT · Coleoptera Karyotype Database
Record type3 550 records
Origin
Range
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions39 of 90 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| OSUClocation not on record | 327 |
| DPIlocation not on record | 299 |
| Bern, CH | 229 |
| Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznańlocation not on record | 104 |
| Muzeum Górnośląskie w Bytomiulocation not on record | 98 |
| The University of Hawaii Insect Museumlocation not on record | 76 |
| Geneva, CH | 67 |
| Chicago, US | 65 |
| Australian National Fish Collectionlocation not on record | 49 |
| University of Alabamalocation not on record | 49 |
| Colorado State Universitylocation not on record | 45 |
| Museum Ludovicae Ulricae, Zoology Institute of the University of Uppsalalocation not on record | 43 |
| University Park, US | 36 |
| SLU Artdatabankenlocation not on record | 35 |
| Bonn, DE | 27 |
| College Station, US | 25 |
| Lubbock, US | 22 |
| Tilburg, NL | 19 |
| SFRAlocation not on record | 18 |
| Lexington, US | 17 |
| Zürich, CH | 16 |
| Universidad Católica de Manizaleslocation not on record | 16 |
| Paro, BT | 16 |
| Auckland, NZ | 15 |
| US | 14 |
| Vitoria, ES | 13 |
| Provo, US | 12 |
| University of Central Floridalocation not on record | 12 |
| Tartu, EE | 11 |
| ZSMlocation not on record | 11 |
| Olocation not on record | 8 |
| Cape Town, ZA | 8 |
| Frauenfeld, CH | 7 |
| Musee d'Histoire Naturallelocation not on record | 7 |
| NHMOlocation not on record | 7 |
| Winterthur, CH | 6 |
| Sagamihara, JP | 6 |
| Chiba, JP | 6 |
| UGRlocation not on record | 6 |
| Provincia di Livornolocation not on record | 6 |
| Natural History Museum Rotterdamlocation not on record | 5 |
| NSMKlocation not on record | 5 |
| Yamaguchi-shi, JP | 5 |
| Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria - AGROSAVIAlocation not on record | 5 |
| NCMGlocation not on record | 5 |
| San Diego, US | 5 |
| Helsinki, FI | 5 |
| Bando, JP | 5 |
| NTNU-VMlocation not on record | 4 |
| Tokushima, JP | 4 |
| Museo Entomologico de Leonlocation not on record | 4 |
| IMEDEAlocation not on record | 4 |
| CBDClocation not on record | 3 |
| FOWGlocation not on record | 3 |
| Natick, US | 3 |
| Philadelphia, US | 3 |
| National Museums of Kenyalocation not on record | 3 |
| Awka, NG | 3 |
| IFR-DNFlocation not on record | 3 |
| Taiwan Forestry Research Institutelocation not on record | 2 |
| Toronto, CA | 2 |
| Naturalis Biodiversity Centerlocation not on record | 2 |
| South Kensington, GB | 2 |
| Museo civico di Storia naturale Giacomo Doria di Genova | Giacomo Doria Natural History Museum in Genoalocation not on record | 2 |
| Dhaka, BD | 2 |
| AMPClocation not on record | 2 |
| Albuquerque, US | 2 |
| FACTlocation not on record | 2 |
| Royal Saskatchewan Museumlocation not on record | 2 |
| Ciudad de México, MX | 2 |
| Naturéum — Muséum cantonal des sciences naturelles, Lausanne, Département Zoologielocation not on record | 2 |
| Santa Barbara Museum of Natural Historylocation not on record | 2 |
| MAJClocation not on record | 1 |
| Mykotektet, National Veterinary Institutelocation not on record | 1 |
| NMOKlocation not on record | 1 |
| Natural History Museum, Londonlocation not on record | 1 |
| CUlocation not on record | 1 |
| Paris, FR | 1 |
| Office National des Forets, Laboratoire National d'Entomologie Forestierelocation not on record | 1 |
| Espace pour la vielocation not on record | 1 |
| University of Oslo, Natural History Museumlocation not on record | 1 |
| BioFokuslocation not on record | 1 |
| Mayagüez, PR | 1 |
| New Haven, US | 1 |
| Kuopio, FI | 1 |
| KwaZulu-Natal Museumlocation not on record | 1 |
| MZLUlocation not on record | 1 |
| ZMAAlocation not on record | 1 |
| Barcelona, ES | 1 |
| Natural History Museum of Utahlocation not on record | 1 |
Where the DNA of Alphitobius diaperinus was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Where its DNA was found
How strong is each trace?
Modelled climatemodelled
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.