Pselaphinae Latreille, 1802

Berx, Peter, Bosmans, Bart, Dekoninck, Wouter, Janssen, Marc, Stassen, Eugène & Crevecoeur, Luc, 2023, Faunistic survey of myrmecophilous and other ant-associated beetles and spiders in the Belgian province of Limburg (Araneae, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Belgian Journal of Entomology 141, pp. 1-61 : 39-40

Pselaphinae Latreille, 1802

The five species of the genus Batrisodes Reitter, 1882 present in the province of Limburg, are all related to ants (Annex) and will rarely be found outside their nests. None of these beetles are very common in our research area and usually a single specimen was collected at a visited location. With only nine individuals found in our flight-interception traps their dispersion seems rather limited. Batrisodes venustus (2.0- 2.2 mm) ( Fig. 32A ) is probably the most eurytopic species within this genus in choosing shelter in ant nests (Annex). Batrisus formicarius (3.0- 3.5 mm) is rather rare and 93% of all these rove beetles were collected sieving decayed wood from dead trees ( CRÊVECOEUR et al., 2004). Claviger longicornis (2.4-2.7 mm) would occur mainly in the nests of L. umbratus ( DONISTHORPE, 1927; FREUDE et al., 1974). This could explain the few locations where this beetle was found throughout the province of Limburg because this guest ant has a subterranean way of life, sometimes nesting ‘under deeply embedded heavy stones’ ( DONISTHORPE, 1927), and the nests are not easily found. However, recently, in August 2022, we collected 21 specimens sieving the wood dust from an old oak tree in a historic castle park in Leut ( Table 31). Another pselaphine beetle which is exclusively associated with ants, is Amauronix maerkelii (AubÉ, 1844) (1.9-2.2 mm), connected with a wide range of guest ants (Annex). Our data contains only a single record, a specimen collected sieving dead wood from a birch in the Grootbos in the municipality Genoelselderen.

Figures

Fig.32. A, Batrisodes venustus (Reichenbach, 1816) (2.0mm; range 2.0-2.2 mm). B, Bibloporus bicolor (Denny, 1825) (1.2mm; range 1.2-1.4 mm). C, Bryaxis curtisii(Leach, 1817) (range 1.45-1.65 mm). D, Trichonyx sulcicollis (Reichenbach, 1816) (2.9mm; range 2.5-3.0mm). © U. Schmidt.