Phalacrus politus Melsheimer, 1844

Majka, Christopher, Gimmel, Matthew & Langor, David, 2008, The Phalacridae (Coleoptera, Cucujoidea) of Canada: new records, distribution, and bionomics with a particular focus on the Atlantic Canadian fauna, ZooKeys 2 (2), pp. 209-220 : 212

Phalacrus politus Melsheimer, 1844

NEWFOUNDLAND: Terra Nova National Park , Salton Brook, 21.VI.1978, (15, MUN) ; Gander , 20.VI.1981, (1, MUN) ; South Pond , 27.VI.1980, Brennan and D. Larson, beaver pond, (1, MUN) .

Phalacrus politus is newly recorded in Canada ( Fig. 1 ). Th e species is widely distributed in the eastern United States from Maine south to Florida and west to Louisiana, Missouri, and Michigan ( Casey 1916; Leng 1920; Leonard 1928; Downie and Arnett 1996; Chandler 2001; Gimmel 2008). Specimens of Phalacrus politus were reported on sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench, Poaceae ) by Hayes (1920). Steiner (1984) found adults and larvae in the powdery galls of corn smut, Ustilago maydis (Dc.) Cda growing on corn, Zea mays L., and in an unidentified smut on the panic grass, Panicum dichotomiflorum Michx. (Poaceae) . Specimens of Phalacrus politus have also been collected in western Maine [Augusta, 21.VIII.1943, A.E. Brower, (1, UNH); Brunswick, 17.IX.1939, A.E. Brower, (2, UNH); Gilead, 26.VIII.1956, A.E. Brower, (1, UNH); Lexington, 13.VII.1959, A.E. Brower, (1, UNH)].

Figures

Fig. 1. Distribution of Phalacrus politus Melsheimer and Olibrus semistriatus LeConte in Newfoundland and Labrador.