Anotylus insecatus (Gravenhorst, 1806)

Majka, Christopher & Klimaszewski, Jan, 2008, Adventive Staphylinidae (Coleoptera) of the Maritime Provinces of Canada: further contributions, ZooKeys 2 (2), pp. 151-174 : 160

Anotylus insecatus (Gravenhorst, 1806)

NOVA SCOTIA: Halifax Co.: Halifax, V-VII.2007, C.G. Majka, garden, (many individuals) ; Halifax , 25.V.2008, C.G. Majka, garden, (2, CGMC) ; Halifax , 1.VI.2008, C.G. Majka, garden (1, CGMC) ; Halifax , 7.VII.2008, C.G. Majka, garden, (1, CGMC) .

Anotylus insecatus is newly recorded for Nova Scotia and in the Maritime Provinces ( Fig. 5 ). Th is species was first recorded in North America by Campbell and Tomlin (1983) from specimens collected in Ontario in 1980. It was subsequently reported from Québec by Campbell and Davies (1991). Anthony Davies (pers. comm.) indicates that the CNC also has specimens from Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and California and that the earliest records (from Alberta) date from 1954.

Horion (1963) and Campbell and Tomlin (1983) both drew attention to A. insecatus as a predator of dipteran larvae in the bulbs of onions and tulips. It has also been found at sap flows and in decaying plant debris ( Campbell and Tomlin 1983). Hammond (1976), however, noted that the species is primarily subterranean and believed that, like many species of Anotylus , it may be largely saprophagous and a scavenger. He indicated that as an inhabitant of dung and decaying organic matter, its association with dipteran larvae may be incidental. Observations by C.G. Majka in Halifax indicate that they are predators of dipteran larvae. Th e roots of radish plants ( Raphanus sativus L., Brassicaceae ) infested with the larvae of radish root maggot [ Delia nr. floralis (Fallén) ( Diptera : Anthomyiidae )] were examined and adult A. insecatus were found preying on larvae in tunnels bored in the roots by the larvae. Adults were also frequently found in subterranean circumstances within soil along with Gabrius picipennis (Mäklin) (Staphylinidae) .

Figures

Fig. 5. Distribution of Cilea silphoides, Atheta dadopora, Leptacinus intermedius, Bisnius cephalotes, Neobisnius villosulus, Philonthus jurgans, Anotylus tetracarinatus, and Anotylus insecatus in the Maritime Provinces of Canada.