Lordithon (Bolitobus) quaesitor (Horn, 1877)

Webster, Reginald P., Sweeney, Jon D. & DeMerchant, Ian, 2012, New Staphylinidae (Coleoptera) records with new collection data from New Brunswick and eastern Canada: Tachyporinae, ZooKeys 186, pp. 55-82 : 70-71

Lordithon (Bolitobus) quaesitor (Horn, 1877) Map 20

Material examined.

New Brunswick, Albert Co., Caledonia Gorge P.N.A., near Turtle Creek, 45.8380°N, 64.8484°W, 3.VII.2011, A. Fairweather & R. P. Webster, old-growth sugar maple and yellow birch forest, on Polyporus varius (1 ♂, 1 ♀, RWC); same locality but 45.8415°N, 64.8467°W, 5.VII.2011, R. P. Webster, old-growth sugar maple and yellow birch forest, on Polyporus varius on dead standing beech (1 ♂, NBM). Carleton Co., Meduxnekeag River Valley Nature Preserve, 46.1907°N, 67.6740°W, 4.VIII.2006, R. P. Webster, mature hardwood forest,in Bjerkandera adusta (Willd.) P. Karsten on side of beech log (1 ♀, RWC); Meduxnekeag River Valley Nature Preserve, 46.1878°N, 67.6705°W, 2.IX.2008, R. P. Webster, hardwood forest,in Bjerkandera adusta (Willd.) P. Karsten on side of beech log (2 ♀, NBM, RWC); same locality and collector, 2.IX.2008, hardwood forest, on Pleurotus sp. mushroom on side of log (1 ♀, NBM); Jackson Falls, Bell Forest, 46.2200°N, 67.7231°W, 16.IX.2006, R. P. Webster, mature hardwood forest, on Bjerkandera adusta (Willd.) P. Karsten on dead standing beech tree and on beech log (3 ♀, RWC). Restigouche Co., Dionne Brook P.N.A., 47.9030°N, 68.3503°W, 19.IX.2011, R. P. Webster, old-growth northern hardwood forest, in gilled mushroom (1, RWC). Sunbury Co., Acadia Research Forest, 45.9866°N, 66.3841°W, 9-16.VI.2009, R. Webster & M.-A. Giguère, mature (110 year-old) red spruce forest with scattered red maple and balsam fir, Lindgren funnel trap (1, AFC). York Co. Charters Settlement, 45.8340°N, 66.7450°W, 20.V.2007, R. P. Webster, mixed forest, in polypore fungi on Populus sp. log (1 ♀, RWC); Kelly’s Creek at Sears Rd., 45.8723°N, 66.8414°W, 8.VI.2008, R. P. Webster, alder swamp, on Pleurotus sp. on dead standing balsam poplar (1 ♀, RWC).

Collection and habitat data.

Little was previously known about the habitat associations of this rare species ( Campbell 1982). In New Brunswick, adults of Lordithon quaesitor were most frequently found on Bjerkandera adusta (Willd.) P. Karsten (a fleshy polypore fungus) on the side of beech logs and standing dead beech trees in mature hardwood forests. This species was also found in Pleurotus sp., among a group of Polyporus varius Fr. on a large sugar maple log and on a dead standing American beech in an old-growth hardwood forest with sugar maple and yellow birch, in polypore fungi on sides of logs, in Pleurotus sp. on a dead standing balsam poplar ( Populus balsamifera L.) tree, and in a gilled mushroom on the forest floor of an old-growth northern hardwood forest with sugar maple and yellow birch. One adult was collected in a Lindgren funnel trap. Some adults were collected in a mature red spruce forest, a mixed forest, and an alder swamp adjacent to a mixed forest. Lordithon quaesitor was sometimes found together with Lordithon niger , Lordithon axillaris , and Lordithon longiceps and probably has a similar biology to those species. Adults were collected during May, June, July, August, and September.

Distribution in Canada and Alaska.

ON, QC, NB, NS ( Campbell 1976; Campbell and Davies 1991; Bishop et al. 2009).