Atheta, : Bernhauer and Scheerpeltz, 1926

Klimaszewski, Jan, Maus, Christian & Gardiner, Alan, 2002, The Importance Of Tracking Introduced Species: New Records Of Athetine Rove Beetles From South Atlantic Inaccessible Island (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Aleocharinae), The Coleopterists Bulletin 56 (4), pp. 481-490 : 481-482

Atheta

1 sp. ( Holdgate 1965). We add here one new record of an introduced

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Palearctic species, Halobrecta flavipes Thomson , and one record of a new species, Atheta (Xenota) pseudoinsulana Klimaszewski , which is probably conspecific with the previously reported Atheta (Acrotona) near laticollis (Stephens) ( Brinck 1948) . Rove beetles are mainly litter dwellers, and as such are prone to introductions into other regions. In particular the species­rich tribe Athetini is known to have many cosmopolitan or introduced species all over the world ( Muona 1984; Sivasubramaniam et al. 1997; Klimaszewski and Peck 1998). Recent studies on the rove beetles of the Galapagos Islands revealed that this fauna originated from several separate colonization events in the distant past (Pleistocene) for endemic species, in Holocene times or more recently for the native species (originated from South America and morphologically identical to present South American species), and in recent historical times for the introduced species from Europe or elsewhere (Klimaszewski and Peck 1998). Three recently introduced species of aleocharines [ Phanerota tridentata Klimaszewski & Peck , Atheta coriaria Kraatz , and Myrmecocephalus concinnus (Erichson) ] are recorded from the islands by the same authors. Rove beetles and particularly the predatory aleocharines are small, highly mobile, and common in various litters. Humans often introduce them along the major trading routes to various parts of the world with imported domestic stock, plants and soil. The introduced, highly competitive species of aleocharines may threaten native species and cause imbalances in historically established predator­prey relationships. This in turn may promote some insect pests. A vivid example of the enormous impact of introduced predatory species on native fauna and existing biodiversity is that of introduced vespid wasps in New Zealand ( Beggs et al. 1996; Berry (in press)). New Zealand has no native vespids, and two introduced species prey on native and introduced arthropods. At high densities they may restructure insect communities within native forests, causing flow­on effects throughout the food chain, including insectivorous birds ( Beggs 2001). In Nothofagus forests in the South Island of New Zealand, there is documented evidence that Vespula species compete for nectar and honeydew with native bird species ( Beggs 2001). It is of crucial importance to closely monitor species introductions on a global scale to better understand the very nature of their ability to colonize foreign lands, and the mechanisms of introduction.