Cryptophagidae L. brunneus Myrmica ruginodis L. fuliginosus Cryptophagidae Atomaria nigrirostris Cryptophagus labilis L. brunneus (Annex) Cryptophagus species C. dentatus T. affinis C. dentatus T. affinis Faunistic survey of myrmecophilous and other ant-associated beetles and spiders in the Belgian province of Limburg (Araneae, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Berx, Peter Bosmans, Bart Dekoninck, Wouter Janssen, Marc Stassen, Eugène Crevecoeur, Luc Belgian Journal of Entomology 2023 2023-10-06 141 1 61 8QY Kirby, 1826 Kirby 1826 [602,985,899,928] Insecta Cryptophagidae Animalia Coleoptera 12 13 Arthropoda family  The Cryptophagidaeor silken-fungus beetles are labelled as saproxylic beetles and therefore can often be found in the same environment as the typical ants of deciduous forests,  L. brunneusand  Myrmica ruginodis. But also in the neighbourhood of the ant  L. fuliginosus,with his carton-like nest construction made of small wood particles glued together with the sugars of the harvested honeydew, we regularly found Cryptophagidae. The sugars also provide the breeding ground for ascomycete fungi, which make the nest construction more solid. It cannot be excluded that the small mycetophagous beetle  Atomaria nigrirostris( 1.7-1.9 mm) is attracted by the fungi present in the nest, which may explain its symbiosis with this ant.  Cryptophagus labilis(2.0– 2.5mm) as well as the other fungivore species of this genus prefer dead trees, a microhabitat they like to share with  L. brunneus(Annex)who excavate tunnels and galleries for their nest in dead trunks. Several  Cryptophagusspecieshave been found to live in wasp nests ( KÖHLER, 2000). Through our study,  C. dentatus( 1.9-2.9 mm) ( Fig. 10) can be linked to the tree dwelling ant  T. affinisfor the first time. Studying the habitat requirements of saproxylic beetles, researchers evaluated the preference of the beetles for mid-canopy or forest floor branches with flight interception traps. In their results, they indicate that  C. dentatusis assigned to the canopy assemblages ( BOUGET et al., 2011). This preference is consistent with the choice of microhabitat of  T. affiniswho builds its nests in the crown of the host tree ( SEIFERT, 1994).