Necrobia rufipes

TaxID: 433251

Basic Information

Necrobia rufipes

Copra Beetle, red legged ham beetle

Necrobia rufipes, the red-legged ham beetle, is a species of predatory beetle, in the family Cleridae, with a cosmopolitan distribution, first described by Charles De Geer in 1775. The adult beetles are 3.5 C7.0 millimetres (0.1 C0.3 in) long, convex, straight sided, and the surface has indentations called punctures. They are shiny metallic green or greenish blue. The legs and antennae are red (dark clubs). They feed on the meat-infesting larvae of Calliphora or blow flies, Dermestidae and Piophilidae. The adults are surface feeders; the larvae bore into dry or smoked meats and do most damage. The red-legged ham beetle also attacks bones, hides, copra, dried egg, cheese, guano, bone meal, dried figs, and palm nut kernels. Although refrigeration has reduced the impact of the beetle on meats, they are a significant destructive pest of dried and salt fish including herring. It was well documented as a threat to agriculture by 1925. Necrobia rufipes has been recorded in Egyptian mummies and were once known as Necrobia mumiarum (Rev. F.W. Hope, 1834). Two related species are Necrobia violacea which has all-dark legs and antennae, and Necrobia ruficollis, which has light-coloured bases of the elytra (shoulders). Although similar, neither are as destructive as N. rufipes. This species should not be confused with its cousin, Korynetes caeruleus, another steely-blue beetle in the family Cleridae. Both species have a significance in forensic entomology but for different reasons.

from Wikipedia

Taxonomic Information

Metazoa

Arthropoda

Insecta

Coleoptera

Cleridae

Necrobia

rufipes

unclassified

Photos (5 photos)

Necrobia rufipes
c
(c) Mike Quinn@BY-NC
Necrobia rufipes
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(c) K Schneider@BY-NC
Necrobia rufipes
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(c) Henrik Kibak@BY
Necrobia rufipes
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(c) faluke@BY-NC
Necrobia rufipes
c
(c) riana60@BY-NC

Morphological Features

No morphological description available.

Host Plants (0 host plants)

Data sources: EPPO Global Database and relevant literature.

No host plants available.

Quarantine Status (1 records)

Data sources: IPPC website and national quarantine websites; verified by human review.

Country Status Year Added
Sri Lanka Quarantine pests —

Distribution (78 countries)

Data Sources: EPPO Global Database and GBIF.

78
Present
0
Absent
0
Unknown/Other
Country Status State
Algeria Present —
United Arab Emirates Present —
Argentina Present —
Australia Present —
Austria Present —
Belgium Present —
Benin Present —
Bulgaria Present —
Bahamas Present —
Bolivia (Plurinational State of) Present —
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Distribution Map (Latitude and longitude coordinates sourced from GBIF.)

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Genomes (0 records)

Data source: NCBI.

No genome records available.

Transcriptomes (0 records)

Data source: NCBI.

No transcriptome records available.

DNA Barcodes (0 records)

View all

Data source: BOLD.

No DNA barcode records available.

Literature