Endomychidae Leach, 1815

Berx, Peter, Bosmans, Bart, Dekoninck, Wouter, Janssen, Marc, Stassen, Eugène & Crevecoeur, Luc, 2023, Faunistic survey of myrmecophilous and other ant-associated beetles and spiders in the Belgian province of Limburg (Araneae, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Belgian Journal of Entomology 141, pp. 1-61 : 16

Endomychidae Leach, 1815

The genus Mycetaea Stephens, 1829 is represented by five extant species worldwide of which only M. subterranea (1.5-1.8 mm) ( Fig. 12 ) is cosmopolitan ( SHOCKLEY et al., 1999). They are all mycophagous with a preference for Lycoperdina bovistae (Fabricius, 1792) , with only three records for Limburg ( Table 9), feeding almost exclusive in puffballs. Consequently, they are found under decomposing bark, in decaying wood and in composting leaf litter, with an indication that M. subterranea was also found in birds’ nest ( HICKS, 1959). In his discussion of the Endomychidae, E. Wasmann (1894) mentions that frequently myrmecophily is attributed to the species of this family such as Mycetaea hirta (Marsham, 1802) (syn. of Mycetaea subterranea ). He remarks that this species is rather accidentally found in the vicinity of ants. Besides M. subterranea , three more species of this family occur in Limburg ( Symbiotes gibberosus (Lucas, 1846) , Lycoperdina bovistae (Fabricius, 1792) and Endomychus coccineus (Linnaeus, 1758)) , of which Wasmann only mentions S. gibberosus as observed near ants without specification of a genus or species ( WASMANN, 1894). Albena Lapeva-Gjonova mentions the presence of Mycetea subterranea (sic) in a nest of F. rufa ( LAPEVA-GJONOVA & RÜCKER, 2011) .

Figures

Fig.12. Mycetaea subteranea (Fabricius, 1801) (1.7 mm; range 1.5-1.8mm). © U. Schmidt.