Cephennium gallicum Ganglbauer

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 : 2-3

Cephennium gallicum Ganglbauer

Cephennium gallicum Ganglbauer, 1899 ( Coleoptera : Scydmaenidae : Cephenniini ) is a member of a diverse and widely distributed genus that is primarily Palearctic. Freude et al. (1971) discussed 14 species of Cephennium from Central Europe, however, P. Jaloszynski (pers. comm.) indicates that there are many additional undescribed species and the genus is in need of extensive revision. O'Keefe (2001) reports that there are over 100 species described worldwide. Only one of these, the blind C. anopthalmicum Brendel , known only from central coastal California, is Nearctic ( O'Keefe 2001).

Cephennium gallicum is a widely distributed species found in central and northern Europe. Freude et al. (1971) report it from northern Spain, France, western Switzerland, Rhineland, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, and southern England. It has also been found in Skane & Uppland in Sweden (MLU), Thüringen in Germany ( Köhler & Klausnitzer 1998), Ireland ( Joy 1932), Scotland ( Ball 2002), and Romania (Jaloszynski, pers. comm.).

Little information has been published on the bionomics of this species. Joy (1932) reports it from "old tree trunks," while Fowler (1890) says it is found "in moss, etc." Jaloszynski (pers. comm.) noted that all species of Cephennium are usually collected from leaf litter and rotten wood, most commonly in mountainous areas and in deciduous forests. Freude et al. (1971) state that species of Cephennium are found particularly in decomposing plant materials and in humus at the base of the trees; sometimes also in decomposing wood. All species of Cephennium are specialized predators of oribatid mites (Acari: Oribatei). Schmid (1988) discusses the specialized morphology and behaviour of these beetles for feeding on these hard­shelled mites.