Scarabaeidae, Latreille, 1802

Slay, Michael E., Skelley, Paul E. & Taylor, Steven J., 2012, New Records ofOnthophagus cavernicollisHowden and Cartwright (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) from Ozark Caves, with a Review of Scarabaeoids Reported from North American Caves, The Coleopterists Bulletin 66 (3), pp. 187-199 : 193-195

Scarabaeidae

Aphodiinae

Acrossus rufipes (L.). Holsinger and Culver (1988) noted occasionally encountering “ Aphodius ” rufipes during invertebrate survey of caves in Virginia and eastern Tennessee. Acrossus rufipes is a relatively common species in the Appalachian region of the US and in Europe, where it has been found on many types of animal dung, usually in shaded, more mountainous habitats (Gordon and Skelley 2007). These are considered accidental collections.

Agoliinus leopardus (Horn) . Calder and Bleakney (1967) and Moseley (2009) recorded an adult and possible larvae of “ Agolinus ” (sic) leopardus from Nova Scotia: Frenchman’ s Cave, X.1964, D. Calder, on porcupine dung. Agoliinus leopardus is a widespread, northern US and Canadian species and is frequently found in forested areas in dung of deer, elk, and sheep ( Harpootlian 2001; Gordon and Skelley 2007). Its presence in porcupine dung is not unexpected, and its presence in the cave is considered accidental.

“ Aphodius ” spp. Black (1971) lists “ Aphodius ” from caves in several Oklahoma counties, but specimens were not available for study. Their identities are unknown.

“ Aphodius ” sp.? Gardner (1986) reported an adult and larvae from Missouri: Texas Co.: Unnamed Cave No. 1, “… extracted from inside fresh dung found in twilight. This species was evidently different from A. rusicola collected from the same dung in this cave.” Gardner (1986) had identification help from R. Gordon, who at the time was actively working on the US “ Aphodius ” monograph (i.e., Gordon and Skelley 2007). Without locating these specimens for additional consideration, no further identification is possible.

“ Aphodius sp. ” Peck (1981) commented on specimens of “ Aphodius ” sp. in “entrance debris” at Utah: Uintah Co.: Ice Cave, Sec. 5, T2W, R1E, near the top of Ice Cave Peak, off forest road 104, about 9700 ft elev., about 15 mi. NNW Lapoint; August 1979. Peck (1981) associated these specimens with entrance debris and identified them as accidental, a classification with which we have no reason to disagree. The specimens were not available for examination.

Ataenius spretulus (Haldeman) . Holsinger and Culver (1988) noted occasionally encountering A. spretulus during invertebrate surveys of caves in Virginia and eastern Tennessee. This is a common, widespread species in the US and Canada, and is occasionally considered a pest ( Woodruff 1973; Harpootlian 2001; Ratcliffe and Paulsen 2008). These are considered accidental collections.

“ Ataenius sp. (near spretulus ).” Craig (1977) reported a collection from Missouri: Crawford Co.: Bear Cave. Members of Ataenius Harold related to A. spretulus are all common surface species. This record is considered accidental.

Blackburneus stercorosus (Melsheimer) . Our collections produced specimens from Missouri: Pulaski Co.: McCann Cave, 12 May 2004 (466 Hand: in woodrat feces on dry soil floor) (2- FSCA). Blackburneus stercorosus is a common widespread species in the eastern US, where adults have been found on a wide variety of animal dung, but may actually be a detritivore (Gordon and Skelley 2007). These are considered accidental collections .

Chilothorax distinctus (Muller) . Michael Sutton provided a damaged specimen from Missouri: Perry Co.: Perryville , Crevice Cave, 9-FEB-2007, M. Sutton, dark zone, stream bank among flood debris (1- FSCA). Chilothorax distinctus is an abundant, immigrant species found throughout much of the US and southern Canada. It can be found in a variety of dung and rotting vegetation (Gordon and Skelley 2007). This specimen is accidental and probably was transported into the cave with flood debris .

Oscarinus rusicola (Melsheimer) . Gardner (1986) reported two adults of “ Aphodius ” rusicola from Missouri: Texas Co., Unnamed Cave No. 1, “… extracted from inside fresh dung found in twilight.” Our collections produced a single specimen from Missouri: Pulaski Co.: McCann Cave, 12 May 2004 (466 Hand: in woodrat feces on dry soil floor) (FSCA). Oscarinus rusicola is a common, widespread species in the eastern US, where it has been collected on a variety of dung, but prefers deer dung (Gordon and Skelley 2007). These are considered accidental collections.

Pardalosus serval (Say) . Gardner (1986) reported a single adult of “ Aphodius ” serval from Missouri: Boone Co.: Hog Lot Cave, “… from beneath a stone in leaf litter near the entrance, during January.” Pardalosus serval is a widespread, winter-active species in the eastern US, where it appears to be a detritivore (Gordon and Skelley 2007) and can be found in decaying accumulations of leaf debris (M. J. Paulsen, personal communication; PES, personal observation). This is considered an accidental collection.

Pseudagolius bicolor (Say) . Our collections produced a specimen from Missouri: Pulaski Co.: Breeden Cave, 25 October 2003, S. Taylor and M. Slay (085 Hand: in fresh raccoon scat on dry bedrock floor) (1- FSCA). Pseudagolius bicolor is a common, forest inhabiting, winteractive species in the eastern US, where it has been found associated with many types of animal dung (Gordon and Skelley 2007). This is considered an accidental collection .

Stenotothorax gardneri (Gordon) . Gardner (1986) reported specimens of “ Aphodius n. sp. ” from Missouri: Barry Co.: Chimney Rock Cave. Pulaski Co. : Little Cave . Texas Co.: Hilltop Cave. He stated, “Two larvae were collected from beneath moist dung in the total darkness of Little Cave. Adults were collected from eastern wood rat droppings in Hilltop Cave and from beneath an eastern woodrat carcass in total darkness of Chimney Rock Cave.” “Relatives of this dungfeeding beetle are all inhabitants of rodent nests: one species in flying squirrel ( Glaucomys volans ) nests in the eastern U.S., one species from flying squirrel ( Glaucomys sabrinus ) nests on the west coast, and one species in wood rat nests ( Neotoma sp. ) on the west coast (Gordon, personal communication).”

Gordon (2006) presented the following data in his description of Gardner’ s species: Missouri: Barry Co.: Chimney Rock Cave, 9 mi. E. Cassville, 22 January, 1980, J.E. Gardner. Pulaski Co. : Little Cave , 6 December 1978, J.E. Gardner. Shannon Co. : Packrat Cave , 6.5 mi NW Round Spring, 18 Apr. 1984, J.E. Gardner. Texas Co.: Hilltop Cave , 11 mi NNW Licking, 5 Apr. 1979, J.E. Gardner. Oklahoma: Latimer Co. : XII-1987, Karl Stephan. Seminole Co. : 9 mi SE Bowlegs, Whiskey Cave , 4.I.1974, W. H. Black. Texas: “Belfrage” [Belfrage is the collector, not a locality, Gordon and Skelley 2007] .

Our collections produced additional records for S. gardneri : Arkansas: Marion Co.: Forest Trail Pit , 11-JUNE-2008, Michael E. Slay, Daniel W. Fong, Mark D. Kottmyer (1- FSCA) . Missouri: Barry Co.: Mark Twain National Forest, 3 mi. W. of Shell Knob , White Oak Onyx Cave , 24-MAR-2001, M. Sutton, twilight zone, in fresh woodrat scat (1- FSCA) ; Shannon Co.: 4 miles S. of Akers, Fungus Gnat Cave , 25-MAR-1995, M. Sutton, twilight zone, on floor (2- FSCA) , Mark Twain National Forest, 7.5 miles S. of Winona, Saltpeter Hollow Cave , 28-NOV-1998, M. Sutton, twilight zone, under rock (1- FSCA) ; Taney Co.: Mark Twain National Forest, 1 mi. SE. of Hilda , Clayton Cave , 12-DEC-2004, M. Sutton, twilight zone, on raccoon dung (2- FSCA) . Oklahoma: Delaware Co.: Bat (Beaver) Cave , 15 December 2004, G. Graening and D. Fenolio (1- FSCA) , cave identified as DL-3, 27 July 2005, G. Graening, M. Slay, and W. Puckette (1- FSCA) ; Mayes Co.: cave identified as MY-12, 29 July 2005, G. Graening, M. Slay, W. Puckette, and S. Hensley (2- FSCA) .

Stenotothorax gardneri is presently known only from the Ozark region, in caves with woodrat nests, and the above data represent all known localities for the species. Stenotothorax gardneri belongs to a genus whose members appear to be detritivores, but often show preference to living in mammal nests or burrows (Gordon and Skelley 2007). In the eastern US, it is most closely related to the widespread Stenotothorax badipes (Melsheimer) which lives in large treeholes, often occupied by different squirrels (Gordon and Skelley 2007). Stenotothorax badipes was recently collected in a treehole with a woodrat nest in Kansas, Pottawatomie County State Fishing Lake (Z. Falin, 2011, personal communication), showing that S. badipes may be a treehole specialist and not specializing on a specific rodent host. Whether S. gardneri lives in woodrat nests outside of cave situations or if it is restricted to caves is presently unknown. We consider S. gardneri to be a troglophile.

Tetraclipeoides aemulus Horn. Cokendolpher and Polyak (1996) reported collecting specimens of “ Aphodius ” aemulus in New Mexico: Eddy Co.: Sinkhole Flat, Milliped Cave (BLM-NM- 060-123), “… under a rock on a mud floor in Milliped Cave.” Tetraclipeoides aemulus occurs in the southwestern US and is usually found living with woodrats (Gordon and Skelley 2007), which facultatively utilize caves. The association with woodrat nests could lead to additional cave collections. Because the species has only been reported once from caves, we consider it an accidental collection.