An entomologist already told me this is from the Dermestidae family, but could not go any further in the identification. It was found in Blue Tit nests and they are really small (c.a. 2mm). What I want to know is the species (if anyone could work with the photos I was able to take) and to know what were they doing in the nest. Do they feed on nestlings or on nest material?
It is Dermestidae familiy but from this photo it is very dificult to say anything else. Maybe you can try using this identification key
http://www.dermestidae.wz.cz/keys.pdf
I am almoust sure that they feed on nest material.
I can't identify it, but I know that it's worth looking into. My colleagues and I found highly significant effects of mites on nestlings (frequently 100% mortality): http://www.auburn.edu/academic/cosam/faculty/biology/hill/lab/documents/63.pdf. Interestingly, the mites only appear late in the breeding season, selecting for early breeding.
Most likely some species from the genus Anthrenus or related. Dermestids usually breed on dead animal tissues, in this case probably feathers.
I'm going to stick my neck out here and suggest Anthrenus flavipes LeConte, 1854 based purely on what I can see of the abdominal pattern. You'll need to check this thoroughly against reference material and the original description, keys for the genus and the like. The species does eat bird feathers and is cold tolerant and distributed throughout the warmer regions of the globe, so, although synathropic, it may well occur outdoors in your location. There is a mature larva there as Jon mentions, but it is too far out of focus to confirm the genus; nevertheless, the setae on the distal abdominal segments should be diagnostic.
I need some more information on how many days you could see the same morphology and is there any other forms within the population that you could see.Because there are chances that these could be larval stages of the plant bugs which resembles adult coleopterans. You look into the nest for the presence of any exuvia (outer skin) like structure if it is so we are not looking into beetles there.
Well, thank you all for your answers!!! They have been really helpfull :)
Nests were collected after the breeding season so there was no nestlings in the nests. Nests were 1st generation and in nest-boxes. I did find an outer skin and I send it to you in attachment. Again, thank you very much.
ok, I'll ask one more thing: can the presence of these beetles attest the quality of nest material? do they prefer certain materials in nests?
thank you!
Anthrenus spec. with sure.
If you ever will need help with identification down to species level in case of world Dermestidae don't hesitate to ask me. Quite often a good photo respectively close-up (more detailed than this one, of course) would be sufficient, otherwise feel free to send me some examples by mail.
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