Faunistic survey of myrmecophilous and other ant-associated beetles and spiders in the Belgian province of Limburg (Araneae, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Author Berx, Peter Author Bosmans, Bart Author Dekoninck, Wouter Author Janssen, Marc Author Stassen, Eugène Author Crevecoeur, Luc text Belgian Journal of Entomology 2023 2023-10-06 141 1 61 journal article 10.5281/zenodo.12639020 2295-0214 12639020 57BE72E5-DFC7-4A81-8912-0F6623FC794D Cryptophagidae Kirby, 1826 Table 7. Observations of cryptophagid beetles that are mentioned in the literature to be associated with ants, with their correlated ant species on specific point locations in the province of Limburg.

Species	Number	UTM grid	Community	Tree	Host ant
Atomaria nigrirostris Stephens, 1830	1	FS8952	Maasmechelen	Populus sp.	lasifuli
Cryptophagus dentatus (Herbst, 1793)	1	FS9526	Voeren	Quercus robur	temnaffi
Cryptophagus labilis Erichson, 1846	1	FS7130	Tongeren	Quercus sp.	lasifuli
Cryptophagus lycoperdi (Scopoli, 1763)	1	FS8952	Maasmechelen	Populus sp.	lasifuli
Cryptophagus saginatus Sturm, 1845	2	FS7130	Tongeren	Fagus sp.	lasifuli
Cryptophagus saginatus Sturm, 1845	5	FS7130	Tongeren	Quercus sp.	lasifuli
Cryptophagus scutellatus Newman, 1834	1	FS5427	Sint-Truiden	broadleaf tree	lasifuli
Cryptophagus scutellatus Newman, 1834	1	FS7130	Tongeren	Quercus sp.	lasifuli

The Cryptophagidae or 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. brunneus and 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 Cryptophagus species have 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. affinis for 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. dentatus is assigned to the canopy assemblages ( BOUGET et al ., 2011 ). This preference is consistent with the choice of microhabitat of T. affinis who builds its nests in the crown of the host tree ( SEIFERT, 1994 ).