Phloeocharis subtilissima Mannerheim

Majka, Christopher & Klimaszewski, Jan, 2004, Phloeocharis subtilissima Mannerheim (Staphylinidae: Phloeo­ charinae) and Cephennium gallicum Ganglbauer (Scydmaenidae) new to North America: a case study in the introduction of exotic Coleoptera to the port of Halifax, with new records of other species, Zootaxa 781, pp. 1-15 : 2

Phloeocharis subtilissima Mannerheim

Phloeocharis subtilissima Mannerheim, 1830 ( Coleoptera : Staphylinidae : Phloeocharinae ) is one of over 30 species of Phloeocharis from the western Palearctic Region, most with restricted distribution in the mountains of circum­Mediterranean countries of southern Europe and northwest Africa ( Newton et al. 2001). One Nearctic representative, P. californica Smetana and Campbell , is found in the coastal mountains and Sierra Nevada of central California.

Phloeocharis subtilissima is an abundant and widely distributed rove beetle. It is recorded from throughout Europe ( Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland, Russia, Scotland, Sicily, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland ( Herman 2001); Latvia ( Telnov et al. 1997), Northern Ireland (Anderson 1997)) and western North Africa ( Scheerpeltz 1931).

The bionomics of the species have not been extensively investigated. It has been reported as “not infrequent under dry pine bark” ( Reitter 1909); under bark ( Freude et al. 1964); under dry bark and in litter, especially litter consisting of deep layers of decomposing leaves ( Szujecki 1966); and under rotten bark, in rotten wood and in brushwood ( Koch 1989). Mazur (1995) noted it to be predaceous in the galleries of the scolytines, Tomicus piniperda (L.) and Xyleborus cryptographus (Ratzeburg) , in Scotch pine ( Pinus sylvestris L.). Melke et al. (1998) classified it as a typical inhabitant of subcortical habitats, and predaceous on various developmental stages of ambio­ and xylophagous organisms.

In Italy, A. Zanetti (pers. comm.) reported it in forests under bark and in detritus, primarily in mountainous areas at mid altitudes. In Belgium D. Drugmand (pers. comm.) found it in moss and under bark, primarily in deciduous forests, but occasionally also in coniferous forests. In Central Europe, A. Rose (pers. comm.), found it in dead wood and litter, sometimes associated with tunnels of the scolytine, Ips typographus (L.). In Poland, R. Ruta (pers. comm.) noted that it is a common species found under bark and on dead poplar ( Populus sp.).