Checklist of - Entomological Society of Canada

Silphidae
S. retrusus (Casey)
S. zimmermz:.nni Schaum
punctatus Casey
oll
PQ
Family MICROPEPLIDAE micropeplid beetles
J.M. Campbell
Micropeplidae is a small family of beetles with
10 species known in Canada and Alaska. They are
found in a variety of habitats, including deciduous
and conifr,,rous leaf litter, inside beaver lodges, in
Carex clurnps growing in shallow water, on freshly
cut stumps of fir and cedar and possibly associated
with the fungus Pyrobema, which is found in forests
after a firr:. Matthews (1970) described two species,
M. hoogervdorni and M. hopkinsi, from Pliocene
deposits irr western Alaska. Little is known about
the feeding habits of the species; however, both larvae
and adults are assumed to feed ott fungal
spores.
The family is well known in North .t\merica.
Campbell (1968) revised the New World spr;cies and
published a catalog of the North Americatr species
(1984c).
AK (a); YK (1); NT (1); BC (8); AB (a); SK. (2); MB
(1); ON (5);PQ (a) ' H(1)
Tribe Micropeplini
Genus KALI|jSUS LeConte
K. nitidus Lc Conte
BC
Genus MICROPEPLUS Latreille
Anhenooeplus Koch
Key to North American species: Campbell (1973b)
M. browni Cr'Lmpbell
M. brunneus Maklin
M. cribratus LeConte
M. laticollis li{eklin
M. punctatus LeConte
costatus Maklin
oregonensis Hatch'
M. robustus ()ampbell
M. sculptus l,eConte
obliquus LeConte
M. smetanai Campbell
M. tesserula Curtis*
costatus LeConte
costipenzis Makiin
AK
AK
AK
AK
YK
NT
BC
BC
BC
BC
BC
BC
BC
AB
AB
AB
AB
SK
sx
-oNPQ
-oN _ONPQ
ON PQ
MB ON PQ
Family SILPHIDAE carrion beetles
J.M. Campbell
The ca.rrion beetles belong to a family of about
175 species found primarily in the Northern
Hemisphere, with a few species having ranges
extending into South America, southeast Asia, and
Australia. Twenty-five species are known to occur in
Canada and Alaska. Carrion beetles are common,
and because oftheir large size and often bright colors
they are frequently collected. Both adults and Iarvae
ofmost species feed on carcasses ofvertebrates; other
species are scavengers, and some species of Aclypea
are phy'tophagous and may be considered to be pests
ofcultivated crops such as spinach.
The family name Silphidae is userl in the
restricted sense of Lawrence (I982a), Lawrence and
Newton (1982), and Anderson and Peck (198{5). These
authors exclude the agyrtids, treating them es a separate
family, Agyrtidae. The Canadian and Alaskan
species are well known taxonomically, based on a
handbook ofthe species by Anderson and Peck (1985).
AK (8); YK (6); NT (9); BC (13); AB (17); SK (18);
MB (18); ON (18); PQ (15); NB (10); NS (11); PE (7);
LB (1); NF (6) . H (4)
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