Beetles Identification Guide

Selected reference
Parsons, C.T. 1975. Revision of Nearctic Mycetophagidae (Coleoptera). Coleopt.
Bull. 29:93—108.
NITIDULIDAE sap beetles
Approximately 100 species of nitidulids occur in Canada. They are most
commonly found on fruit, carrion, fungi, trees, and flowers. Adults and larvae
feed on the sap of trees, the juice of fruits, decaying fungi, and carrion.
The few species of sap beetles associated with stored products in Canada
are not economically important, but some are serious pests in the field. The corn
sap beetle, Carpophilus dimidiatus (Fabricius), has been reported occasionally in
Canada in imported food products. The species, however, is not established here.
It occurs throughout the tropical and warm temperate regions of the world
(Aitken 1975).
Carpophilus brachypterus (Say)
Diagnosis: The species differs from the other nitidulids dealt with here in having
2 exposed terga with uniformly dark elytra.
Sexual dimorphism: Males have the sixth abdominal sternum exposed and the
apical margin of the fifth sternum deeply emarginate; females have the sixth sternum
concealed and the apical margin of the fifth sternum truncate (Fig. 253).
Distribution: Exclusively North American. In Canada the species is found in
Quebec, Ontario, and Manitoba.
Economic importance: In recent years adults of this species have been found
in wheat granaries in many localities of Manitoba (L.B. Smith, personal
communication).
Carpophilus hemipterus (Linnaeus)
driedfruit beetle
nitidule des fruits
Diagnosis: The species is distinct from the other species of the family included
here in having 2 exposed terga with yellowish spots on the elytra.
Sexual dimorphism: Males have the sixth abdominal sternum exposed and
the apical margin of the preceding one deeply emarginate; females have the
sixth abdominal sternum concealed and the apical margin of the preceding
one truncate (Fig. 253).
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