Bledius opaculus LeConte, 1877

Majka, Christopher, Klimaszewski, Jan & Lauff, Randolph, 2008, The coastal rove beetles (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae) of Atlantic Canada: a survey and new records, ZooKeys 2 (2), pp. 115-150 : 131

Bledius opaculus LeConte, 1877

NOVA SCOTIA: Halifax Co.: Sable Island, 22.VII.1976, 13.VI.1977, 14.VI.1977, wet sand at the edges of ponds, B. Wright, (6, NSMC). PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND: Queens Co.: Cavendish Beach, 22.VII.1967, H.F. Howden, (1, CNC). QUÉBEC: Iles de la Madeleine, 7-9.VII.1992, F. Shaeffer and P. Laporte, 322 specimens, Majka and Shaffer (in press).

Herman (1976) recorded this species from Newfoundland, Nova Scotia (Sable Island), and Prince Edward Island ( Fig. 14 ). In Nova Scotia the species has only been recorded from Sable Island ( Howden 1970, Wright 1989). More recently Majka and Shaffer (in press) recorded large numbers in the diet of Piping Plovers in the Iles de la Madeleine, Québec, newly recording the species from that province.

Herman (1976) found the species on moist, un-vegetated sand flats on the leeward side of an island and on algae covered moist sand flats. On Sable Island specimens have been found associated with dead gulls, in large swarming groups along the shores of Wallace Lake, and on wet sand at the edge of small ponds ( Wright 1989). In the Iles de la Madeleine they are found on moist sand flats in the lee of large barrier beaches (Majka and Shaffer in press). The species’ distribution in Atlantic Canada is shown in Fig. 14 .

Figures

Fig. 14. The distribution of Bledius basalis, Bledius mandibularis, Bledius neglectus, Bledius opaculus, and Bledius politus in Atlantic Canada.