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 Tenebrionidae Latreille, 1802 Table 36. Observation of tenebrionidid 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. - * sieving top layer of the nest- ** sieving nesting material 20 cm under top layer of the nest.

Species	UTM Number grid		Community	Tree	Host ant
Corticeus unicolor Piller & Mitterpacher, 1783	1	FS9626	Voeren	Malus sp.	lasibrun
Diaclina fagi (Panzer, 1799)	6	FS9626	Voeren	Malus sp.	lasibrun
Diaperis boleti (Linnaeus, 1758)	1	FS5130	Sint-Truiden	fruit tree	lasibrun, temnaffi
Diaperis boleti (Linnaeus, 1758)	1	FS9725	Voeren	Malus sp.	lasibrun, lasifuli
Diaperis boleti (Linnaeus, 1758)	1	FS9727	Voeren	fruit tree	campfall, lasibrun, temnaffi
Eledona agricola (Herbst, 1783)	14	FS9725	Voeren	Malus sp.	lasibrun, lasifuli
Mycetochara maura (Fabricius, 1792)	2	FS7338	Hoeselt	fruit tree	lasibrun, temnaffi
Mycetochara maura (Fabricius, 1792)	1	FS7035	Kortessem	fruit tree	lasibrun, temnaffi
Mycetochara maura (Fabricius, 1792)	1	FS9626	Voeren	Malus sp.	lasibrun
Myrmechixenus subterraneus Chevrolat, 1835	1	FS7349	Genk	nest	forcsang*
Myrmechixenus subterraneus Chevrolat, 1835	1	FS7754	Zwartberg	nest	forcprat**
Nalassus laevioctostriatus (Goeze, 1777)	4	FS8653	Dilsen- Stokkem	Fagus sp.	lasifuli
Palorus ratzeburgii (Wissmann, 1848)	1	FS9626	Voeren	Malus sp.	lasibrun
Pentaphyllus testaceus (Hellwig, 1792)	8	FS6732	Borgloon	fruit tree	lasibrun, temnaffi
Pentaphyllus testaceus (Hellwig, 1792)	1	FS5427	Sint-Truiden	broadleaf tree	lasifuli
Pentaphyllus testaceus (Hellwig, 1792)	1	FS9626	Voeren	Malus sp.	lasibrun
Prionychus ater (Fabricius, 1775)	1	FS7735	Bilzen	fruit tree	lasibrun, temnaffi
Prionychus ater (Fabricius, 1775)	1	FS6529	Borgloon	fruit tree	lasibrun, lasifuli, temnaffi
Prionychus ater (Fabricius, 1775)	1	FS9127	Voeren	Malus sp.	lasibrun
Pseudocistela ceramboides (Linnaeus, 1758)	1	FS9127	Voeren	Malus sp.	lasibrun
Pseudocistela ceramboides (Linnaeus, 1758)	1	GS0024	Voeren	Malus sp.	lasibrun
Pseudocistela ceramboides (Linnaeus, 1758)	1	GS0424	Voeren	Alnus glutinosa	lasibrun
Scaphidema metallica (Fabricius, 1792)	1	FS7130	Tongeren	Quercus sp.	lasifuli

The darkling beetles we collected in the vicinity of ants, vary widely in size. Myrmechixenus subterraneus ( 1.3-1.6 mm ) is the smallest compared to the largest Prionychus ater (12.0- 14.0 mm). Myrmechixenus subterraneus appears not to be strictly tied to a single guest ant but has been associated with several species of the genera Formica and Lasius . One might then expect it to be the most common beetle because it has few demands on the microbiotope, but with only three 1 x 1 km grids the opposite is true (Annex). From Pseudocistela ceramboides (10.0-12.0mm) it is claimed that this darkling beetle prefers oak forests ( FREUDE, 1969 ), but in addition to pedunculate oak, we have found this species on a wide variety of trees: alder, apple, ash, beech, cherry, elder, hornbeam, linden, pear, Scots pine and poplar. Diaperis boleti (6.0- 8.0 mm) and Eledona agricola ( 2.2-2.5 mm ) are both often observed sieving old mushrooms.