Ciidae Leach, 1819

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 : 11

Ciidae Leach in Samouelle, 1819

Of the 18 ciid beetles found in Limburg, we have selected four that are associated with ants in the consulted literature. They are not only fungiphagous but also complete their full life cycle in the fruit bodies of fungi, with a preference for fungi on trees. Cis castaneus (1.5-2.1 mm) ( Fig. 8A ) and C. fusciclavis (1.5-2.2mm) have an extensive feeding pattern and adults can be found on the fruiting bodies of several species of tree mushrooms. Also, Ennearthron cornutum (1.4- 2.0 mm) ( Fig. 8B ) is not selective about food supply and appreciates just about any tree fungus as a food source. On the other hand, it is just about the only beetle species that is found in the bracket fungus Laetiporus sulphureus (Bull.) Murrill (1920) ( REIBNITZ, 1999). In addition to the observations in the close vicinity of a nest of L. fuliginosus ( Table 5), this species was also found sifting two sulphur shelves ( Laetiporus sulphureus (Bull.) Murrill (1920)) in Kolmontbos (2008 & 2009 - Tongeren - FS7130). The cinnabar polypore, Pycnoporus cinnabarinus (Jacq.) P. Karst. (1881) is almost exclusively brooded by Sulcacis nitidus (1.2-1.4 mm) ( Fig. 8C ) ( REIBNITZ et al., 2013) but our own data does not allow us to confirm this finding.

Figures

Fig.8. A, Cis castaneus (Herbst, 1793) (2.1 mm; range 1.5-2.1mm). B, Ennearthron cornutum (Gyllenhal, 1827) (middle) (1.7mm; range 1.4-2.0mm). C, Sulcacis nitidus (Fabricius, 1792) (1.7mm). © U. Schmidt.