flour beetle
noun
: any of various small darkling beetles (especially Tribolium confusum and T. castaneum) that typically feed on and lay eggs in stored grain and grain products
Examples of flour beetle in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Red and confused flour beetles (so named because they’re often confused for one another) are about 1/8-inch long reddish-brown beetles.
—
Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 23 Sep. 2024
But the red flour beetle's rectum is a model of ultra-efficiency in that regard.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 27 Dec. 2023
Red flour beetles in particular are a popular model organism for scientific research on development and functional genomics.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 27 Dec. 2023
Each year, as much as 20 percent of the world's grain stores are contaminated by red flour beetles, grain weevils, Colorado potato beetles, and confused flour beetles, particularly in developing countries.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 27 Dec. 2023
Confused flour beetle by Sarefo (via Wikimedia commons).
—Elizabeth Preston, Discover Magazine, 17 Nov. 2015
In species like the flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum), the behavior may also impart a reproductive advantage, since studies have shown that cannibalistic individuals produce more eggs than non-cannibals.
—Bill Schutt, Discover Magazine, 3 Jan. 2019
The male flour beetle has to battle other males over the right to mate with a female.
—Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 14 Apr. 2010
The two most promising species are flour beetles and black soldier flies, specifically the larval stages of these animals.
—The Economist, 4 July 2019
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Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 23 Sep. 2024
But the red flour beetle's rectum is a model of ultra-efficiency in that regard.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 27 Dec. 2023
Red flour beetles in particular are a popular model organism for scientific research on development and functional genomics.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 27 Dec. 2023
Each year, as much as 20 percent of the world's grain stores are contaminated by red flour beetles, grain weevils, Colorado potato beetles, and confused flour beetles, particularly in developing countries.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 27 Dec. 2023
Confused flour beetle by Sarefo (via Wikimedia commons).
—Elizabeth Preston, Discover Magazine, 17 Nov. 2015
In species like the flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum), the behavior may also impart a reproductive advantage, since studies have shown that cannibalistic individuals produce more eggs than non-cannibals.
—Bill Schutt, Discover Magazine, 3 Jan. 2019
The male flour beetle has to battle other males over the right to mate with a female.
—Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 14 Apr. 2010
The two most promising species are flour beetles and black soldier flies, specifically the larval stages of these animals.
—The Economist, 4 July 2019
Cite this Entry
“Flour beetle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flour%20beetle. Accessed 24 May. 2025.
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