Oryzaephilus surinamensis

Oryzaephilus surinamensis
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Polyphaga
Infraorder: Cucujiformia
Family: Silvanidae
Genus: Oryzaephilus
Species:
O. surinamensis
Binomial name
Oryzaephilus surinamensis
Synonyms
  • Anobium frumentarium Fabricius, 1775
  • Dermestes sexdentatus Fabricius, 1792
  • Dermestes surinamensis Linnaeus, 1758
  • Ips frumentaria (Fabricius, 1775)
  • Ips sexdentatus Herbst, 1783
  • Oryzaephilus cursor (Fabricius, 1792)
  • Oryzaephilus frumentarius (Fabricius, 1775)
  • Oryzaephilus bicornis (Erichson, 1846)
  • Oryzaephilus sexdentatus (Fabricius, 1792)
  • Silvanus bicornis Erichson, 1846
  • Tenebrio cursor Fabricius, 1792
  • Tenebrio surinamensis (Linnaeus, 1758)

Oryzaephilus surinamensis, the sawtoothed grain beetle, is a beetle in the superfamily Cucujoidea. It is a common, worldwide pest of grain and grain products as well as chocolate, drugs, and tobacco. The species' binomial name, meaning "rice-lover from Suriname," was coined by Carl Linnaeus, who received specimens of the beetle from Surinam. It is also known as the malt beetle and may be referenced in the poem This Is The House That Jack Built in the line "....the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built" the malt referenced may not be actual malted grain but a sawtoothed grain beetle.