D3341: Bark-gnawing beetles (Coleoptera: Trogossitidae, Tenebroides spp.) of South Carolina

Tenebroides Piller & Mitterpacher 1783 (Coleoptera: Trogossitidae) is a species-rich genus within the bark-gnawing beetle family and contains about 150 species world-wide. Most species in the genus are detritivores, although several are economically important pests of stored grain. Species identification is challenging due to the reliance on qualitative external morphological characters. A review with keys of North American Trogossitidae was compiled by J. R. Barron in 1971, and one regional update to the family has been published since. No species list exists for Tenebroides in South Carolina. Approximately 400 Tenebroides specimens housed in the Clemson University Arthropod Collection (CUAC) were identified to species and databased. Here we present proposed characters to aid in species identification and photographs of the species of Tenebroides present in the CUAC.