Oligota chrysopyga Kraatz, 1859†

Webster, Reginald P., Klimaszewski, Jan, Bourdon, Caroline, Sweeney, Jon D., Hughes, Cory C. & Labrecque, Myriam, 2016, Further contributions to the Aleocharinae (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae) fauna of New Brunswick and Canada including descriptions of 27 new species, ZooKeys 573, pp. 85-216 : 163

Taxon classification Animalia Coleoptera Staphylinidae

Oligota chrysopyga Kraatz, 1859† Figs 375-380

Material examined.

Canada, New Brunswick, York Co., Charters Settlement, 45.8395°N, 66.7391°W, 18.X.2007, 3.IX.2010, 7.IX.2010, 19.IX.2010, 22.IX.2010, R.P. Webster, coll. // Mixed forest, in decaying (moldy) corncobs & cornhusks (1 ♂, 3 ♀, 6 sex undetermined, RWC); same data but 7.IX.2010 (1 ♀, 1 sex undetermined, LFC).

Natural history.

Oligota chrysopyga was common in a pile of decaying and moldy corncobs and cornhusks near a composter in a residential area adjacent to a mixed forest. Not much is known about the biology of Oligota . Frank et al. (1992) mentions that some species prey on mites, which were abundant in the moldy corncobs and cornhusks where the NB specimens were collected.

Distribution in Canada and Alaska.

NB (New Canadian record). Although now considered cosmopolitan, the only other North American record of this adventive species was by Frank (1976) from FL, where it was apparently introduced from the Caribbean.