Abstract
The troglophilic staphylinid beetle Quedius spelaeus spelaeus Horn 1871, has been found in a number of porcupine dung caves in Nova Scotia where it appears to be the dominant predator on other invertebrates. In culture, late-instar larvae were observed to excavate and remain in cavities excavated in dung, and to pupate in these cavities. The pupa is described for the first time and compared with other pupae in the genus Quedius Stephens. The apparently disjunct distribution of the species in Nova Scotia is discussed and it is suggested that it may have colonized the province from Atlantic glacial refugia.
References
Blatchley, W.S. (1910) An Illustrated Descriptive Catalogue of the Coleoptera or Beetles (Exclusive of the Rhynchophora) Known to Occur in Indiana. Nature Publishing, Indianapolis, Indiana. 1386 pp.
Blatchley, W.S. & Wickham, H.F. (1896) Indiana caves and their fauna. 21st Annual Report of the Indiana Department of Geology and Natural Resources, pp. 121–212.
Calder, D.R. & Bleakney, J.S. (1967) Observations on Frenchman’s Cave, Nova Scotia, and its Fauna. National Speleological Society Bulletin, 29(1), 23–25.
Chandler, D.S. (1997) A Catalogue of the Coleoptera of America North of Mexico: Pselaphidae. United States Department of Agriculture Handbook 529–31. 118 pp.
King, L.H. (1996) Late Wisconsin ice retreat from the Scotian Shelf. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 108, 1056–1067.
Klimaszewski, J. & Peck, S.B. (1986) A review of the cavernicolous Staphylinidae (Coleoptera) of the eastern North America: part I. Aleocharinae. Quaestiones Entomologicae, 22, 51–113.
Klimaszewski, J. (2000) Diversity of the rove beetles in Canada and Alaska (Coleoptera Staphylinidae). Mémoires de la Société royale belge d’Entomologie, 39, 3–126.
Klimaszewski, J., Majka, C.G., & Langor, D. (2006) Review of the North American Tarphiota Casey, with a description of a new seashore-inhabiting species Atheta species exhibiting convergent characteristics (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae). Entomological Science, 9, 67–78.
Majka, C.G. & McCorquodale, D.B. (2006) The Coccinellidae (Coleoptera) of the Maritime Provinces of Canada: new records, biogeographic notes, and conservation concerns. Zootaxa, 1154, 49–68
Moseley, M. (1996) The Gypsum Karsts and Caves of the Canadian Maritimes. Cave and Karst Science, 23(1), 5–15.
Moseley, M. (1998) Invertebrate Cave Fauna of Nova Scotia Caves. Nova Scotia Museum Curatorial Report 86. Halifax, Canada, 40 pp.
Newton, A.F., Thayer, M.K., Ashe, J.S., & Chandler, D.S. (2000) Staphylinidae Latreille, 1802. In: Arnett, R.H., Jr., & Thomas, M.C. (Eds.), American Beetles, Volume 1: Archostemata, Myxophaga, Adephaga, Polyphaga: Staphyliniformia. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida. pp. 272–418.
Peck, S.B. & Thayer, M.K. (2003) The cave-inhabiting rove beetles of the United States (Coleoptera; Staphylinidae; excluding Aleocharinae and Pselaphinae): diversity and distribution. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies, 65, 3–8.
Smetana, A. (1971) Revision of the tribe Quediini of America north of Mexico (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae). Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada, 79, 1–303.
Staniec, B. (1996) Morphology of the pupa of Quedius plagiatus Mannerheim (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae). Polskie Pismo Entomologiczne, 65,113–118.
Staniec, B. (1999) A description of the pupae of Quedius fumatus (Stephens), Q. humeralis Stephens, Q. mesomelinus (Marsham) and Q. fuliginosus (Gravenhorst) (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Staphylininae). Genus, 10(1), 47–57.
Staniec, B. (2003) Morphology of the mature larva and pupa of Quedius brevicornis (Thompson, 1860) (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae). Annales Zoologici (Warszawa), 53(4), 673–680.
Thayer, M.K. (2005) Chapter 11.7. Staphylinidae Latreille, 1802. In: Beutel, R.G. and Leschen, R.A.B. (Eds.), Handbook of Zoology: A natural History of the Phyla of the Animal Kingdom. Insecta. Coleoptera, Beetles. De Gruyter, Berlin, New York.
Voris, R. (1939) Immature Staphylinidae of the Genus Quedius (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae). Entomological News, 50, 151–155 & 188–190.