Dark mealworm
Tenebrio obscurus Fabricius, 1792
Status not recordedbeetles
The dark mealworm (Tenebrio obscurus) is a species in the family Tenebrionidae, order Coleoptera.
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Quick facts about the dark mealworm
- Weight
- Not recorded
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the dark mealworm live?
Not recorded
Where has it been introduced?
The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the dark mealworm as introduced in 7 countries, and flagged as invasive in 1 of them.
Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).
Is the dark mealworm endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the dark mealworm classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumArthropoda
- classInsecta
- orderColeoptera
- familyTenebrionidae
- genusTenebrio
- SpeciesTenebrio obscurus Fabricius, 1792
Synonyms Menedrio longipennis
Other names and names in other languages (13)
- Dark mealworm beetleEnglish
- potemník tmavýCzech
- pirttipukkiFinnish
- ténébrion obscurFrench
- kéreglakó lisztbogárHungarian
- コメノゴミムシダマシJapanese
- 곡물거저리Korean
- Mącznik ciemnyPolish
- Хрущак большой темныйRussian
- loftmjölbaggeSwedish
- Хрущак темнийUkrainian
- 黑粉虫Chinese
- 黑拟步甲Chinese
Relatives of the dark mealworm
Other species in the same genus Tenebrio.
CompareDark mealworm vs MealwormDark mealworm vs Tenebrio affinisDark mealworm vs Tenebrio angulatusDark mealworm vs Tenebrio arundinaceus
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
Is the dark mealworm an invasive species?
In some places. The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species flags the dark mealworm as invasive in 1 country: Latvia. It lists it as introduced in 7 in all.
What kind of animal is the dark mealworm?
The dark mealworm (Tenebrio obscurus) belongs to the family Tenebrionidae in the order Coleoptera.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-13. How this page is put together.
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APA
CreatureData. (2026). Dark mealworm (Tenebrio obscurus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/dark-mealworm
MLA
“Dark mealworm (Tenebrio obscurus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/dark-mealworm.
BibTeX
@misc{dark_mealworm_2026,
title = {Dark mealworm (Tenebrio obscurus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/dark-mealworm},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-13}
}