Confused Flour Beetle vs Amazonian Scarab

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Confused Flour Beetle Amazonian Scarab
Scientific Name Tribolium confusum Phanaeus chalcomelas
Order Coleoptera Coleoptera
Family Tenebrionidae Scarabaeidae
Size 3-4 mm 15-25 mm
Habitat Indoors Forests
Diet Seed Feeders Dung Feeders
Regions Worldwide Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil
Conservation Not Evaluated Not Evaluated

Confused Flour Beetle

A small reddish-brown beetle nearly identical to the red flour beetle, hence the 'confused' name. It is a worldwide pest of stored flour.

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Did You Know?

It was named 'confused' because entomologists kept confusing it with the red flour beetle.

Amazonian Scarab

A strikingly colorful dung beetle with metallic green, copper, and blue hues. Males have a prominent curved horn on the pronotum.

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Did You Know?

It can bury a dung ball many times its own weight in under an hour, recycling nutrients back into the forest soil.