Published September 4, 2008 | Version v1
Journal article Open

The flat bark beetles (Coleoptera, Silvanidae, Cucujidae, Laemophloeidae) of Atlantic Canada

  • 1. Nova Scotia Museum, 1747 Summer Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Description

As a result of the present investigations 18 species of flat bark beetles are known to occur in Atlantic Canada, 10 in New Brunswick, 17 in Nova Scotia, four on Prince Edward Island, six on insular Newfoundland, and one in Labrador. Twenty-three new provincial records are reported and nine species, Uleiota debilis (LeConte), Uleiota dubius (Fabricius), Nausibius clavicornis (Kugelann), Ahasverus advena (Waltl), Cryptolestes pusillus (Schönherr), Cryptolestes turcicus (Grouvelle), Charaphloeus convexulus (LeConte), Charaphloeus species nr. adustus, and Placonotus zimmermanni (LeConte) are newly recorded in the region, one of which C. sp. nr. adustus, is newly recorded in Canada as a whole. Eight species are cosmopolitan species introduced to the region and North America, nine are native Nearctic species, and one, Pediacus fuscus Erichson, is Holarctic in distribution. All the introduced species except for one (Silvanus bidentatus (Fabricius), a saproxylic species) are found on various stored products, whereas all the native species are saproxylic. Ahasverus longulus (Blatchley), is removed from the species list of New Brunswick and Charophloeus adustus (LeConte) is removed from the species list of Nova Scotia. One tropical Asian species, Cryptamorpha desjardinsi (Guérin-Méneville), has been intercepted in the region in imported produce, but is not established.

The substantial proportion (44%) of the fauna that is comprised of introduced species is highlighted, almost all of which are synanthropic species associated with various dried stored products. The island faunas of Prince Edward Island, Cape Breton Island, and insular Newfoundland are diminished in comparison to the mainland fauna, that of Prince Edward Island being exceptionally so in comparison to other saproxylic groups found there. Of the ten native species, four can be categorized as 'apparently rare' (i.e., comprising ≤ 0.005% of specimens examined from the region). It is possibly that the apparent scarcity of these species is related to the long history of forest management in Atlantic Canada. Further research on saproxylic faunas in the region is urged to help determine the impact that forest practices may have had on them and to seek measures which might lessen or ameliorate such impacts.

Files

ZK_article_1935.pdf

Files (812.7 kB)

Name Size Download all
md5:0fbae8a6d159b46a7ce450248e1ce062
812.7 kB Preview Download

Linked records

Additional details

Identifiers

LSID
urn:lsid:plazi.org:pub:FFBAFFA6D159B46AFFE450248E1CE062
URL
http://publication.plazi.org/id/FFBAFFA6D159B46AFFE450248E1CE062

References

  • Alexander KNA (2004) Revision of the Index of Ecological Continuity as used for saproxylic beetles. Research Report 574, English Nature, Peterborough, 60 pp.
  • Anonymous (2003) Provincial Sustainable Forest Management Strategy. Appendix 5: Ecoregion Descriptions of Newfoundland and Labrador. St. John's, Newfoundland: Forest Service of Newfoundland and Labrador, 99-104. http://www.nr.gov.nl.ca/forestry/publications/appendix5.pdf [accessed 28.VII.2008]
  • Bain A (1998) A seventeenth-century beetle fauna from colonial Boston. Historical Archeology 32(3): 38-48.
  • Bain A (1999) Archeoentomological and archeoparasitological reconstructions at Ilot Hunt (CeEt-110): new perspectives in historical archeology (1850-1900). Ph.D. thesis, University of Laval, Quebec, 310 pp.
  • Bishop DJ, Majka CG, Bondrup-Nielsen S, Peck SB (in press) Deadwood and saproxylic beetle diversity in naturally disturbed and managed spruce forests in Nova Scotia. Forest Ecology and Management.
  • Blatchley WS (1910) An illustrated descriptive catalogue of the Coleoptera or Beetles (exclusive of the Rhynchophora) known to occur in Indiana. Th e Nature Publishing Company, Indianapolis, 1386 pp.
  • Bousquet Y (1990) Beetles associated with stored products in Canada: an identification guide. Agriculture Canada Publication 1837: 1-215
  • Bousquet Y (1991) Family Cucujidae: flat bark beetles. In: Bousquet Y (Ed) Checklist of Beetles of Canada and Alaska. Agriculture Canada Publication 1861/E: 219-220.
  • Casey TL (1884) Revision of the Cucujidae of America North of Mexico. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 11: 69-112.
  • Chandler DS (2001) University of New Hampshire Insect and Arachnid Collections. http:// colsa1.unh.edu:591/unhinsects.htm [accessed 28.VII.2008]
  • Crowson RA (1955) Th e natural classification of the families of Coleoptera. Nathaniel Lloyd, London, 187 pp.
  • Dearborn RG, Donahue CP (1993) An annotated list of insects collected and recorded by the Maine Forest Service: Order Coleoptera, Beetles. Augusta, Maine: Insect and Disease Division of the Maine Forest Service. Department of Conservation Technical Report 32: 1-102.
  • Dollin PE, Duinker PN, Majka CG (2008) Saproxylic beetle (Coleoptera) communities and forest management practices in coniferous stands in southwest Nova Scotia, Canada. In: Majka C, Klimaszewski J (Eds) Biodiversity, Biosystematics, and Ecology of Canadian Coleoptera. ZooKeys 2.
  • Downie NM, Arnett RH, Jr. (1996) Th e Beetles of Northeastern North America, Volumes 1 and 2. Sandhill Crane Press, Gainesville, 1721 pp.
  • Evans JD (1899) List of Coleoptera from Halifax, NS. Th e Canadian Entomologist 31: 320-321.
  • Evenhuis NL (2007) Abbreviations for insect and spider collections of the world. http://hbs. bishopmuseum.org/codens/codens-inst.html [accessed 28.VII.2008]
  • Grove SJ (2002) Saproxylic insect ecology and the sustainable management of forests. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 33: 1-23.
  • Kehler D, Corkum C, Bondrup-Nielsen S (1996) Habitat Associations and Species Diversity of Forest Beetle Communities of Nova Scotia. Centre for Wildlife and Conservation Biology, Acadia University, Wolfville, 120 pp.
  • LeConte JL (1854) Synopsis of the Cucuiides of the United States. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 7: 73-79.
  • Leng CW (1920) Catalogue of the Coleoptera of America north of Mexico. John D. Sherman, Jr., Mount Vernon, New York, 470 pp.
  • Lindroth CH (1957) Th e faunal connections between Europe and North America. Almqvist & Wiksell, Stockholm, 344 pp.
  • Loo J, Ives N (2003) Th e Acadian forest: historical condition and human impacts. The Forestry Chronicle 79: 462-472.
  • Majka CG (2007a) Th e Derodontidae, Dermestidae, Bostrichidae, and Anobiidae of the Maritime Provinces of Canada (Coleoptera: Bostrichiformia). Zootaxa 1573: 1-38.
  • Majka CG (2007b) Th e Eucnemidae (Coleoptera) of the Maritime Provinces of Canada: new records, observations on composition and zoogeography, and comments on the scarcity of saproxylic beetles. Zootaxa 1636: 33-46.
  • Prevost M-A, Bain A (2007) L'implantation d'une colonie terre-neuvienne au XVIIe siecle: l'apport des analyses archeobotanique et archeoentomologique. In: Bain A, Chabot J, Moussette M (Eds) La mesure du passe: contributions a la recherche en archeometrie (2000-2006). British Archaeological Reports. International Series number 1700. Archaeopress, Oxford, 205-216.
  • Sikes DS (2004) Th e beetle fauna of Rhode Island: an annotated checklist, Volume 3. Rhode Island Natural History Survey, Kingston, 296 pp.
  • Slipinski A. (2007) Pediacus fuscus Erichson 1845. In: Fauna Europea, version 1.3. http://www. faunaeur.org/ [accessed 28.VII.2008]
  • Telnov D, Bukejs A, Gailis J, Kalnins M, Napolov A, Sorensson M (2007) Contributions to the Knowledge of Latvian Coleoptera. 6. Latvijas entomologs 44: 45-52.
  • Thomas MC (1993) Th e Flat Bark Beetles of Florida (Coleoptera: Silvanidae, Passandridae, and Laemophloeidae). Arthropods of Florida and Neighbouring Lands, Volume 15. Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, Gainesville, 101 pp.
  • Thomas MC (2002a) Silvanidae Kirby 1837. In: Arnett RH, Jr, Th omas MC, Skelley PE, Frank JH (Eds) American Beetles, Volume 2: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea. CRC Press, Boca Raton, 322-326.
  • Thomas MC (2002b) Passandridae Erichson 1845. In: Arnett RH, Jr., Th omas MC, Skelley PE, Frank JH (Eds) American Beetles, Volume 2: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea. CRC Press, Boca Raton, 327-328.
  • Thomas MC (2002c) Cucujidae Latreille 1802. In: Arnett RH, Jr, Th omas MC, Skelley PE, Frank JH (Eds) American Beetles, Volume 2: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea. CRC Press, Boca Raton, 329-330.
  • Thomas MC (2002d) Laemophloeidae Ganglbauer 1899. In: Arnett RH, Jr, Th omas MC, Skelley PE, Frank JH (Eds) American Beetles, Volume 2: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea. CRC Press, Boca Raton, 331-334.
  • Thomas MC (2004) A revision of Pediacus Shuckard (Coleoptera: Cucujidae) for America north of Mexico, with notes on other species. Insecta Mundi 17: 157-177 (2003).