Sunius melanocephalus (Fabricius, 1792)

Brunke, Adam J. & Marshall, Stephen A., 2011, Contributions to the faunistics and bionomics of Staphylinidae (Coleoptera) in northeastern North America: discoveries made through study of the University of Guelph Insect Collection, Ontario, Canada, ZooKeys 75, pp. 29-68 : 41

Sunius melanocephalus (Fabricius, 1792)

Materials.

CANADA: ON: Huron Co., Auburn, Hullett-McKillop Rd. nr. Limekiln Line, 43.742, -81.514, hedgerow, canopy trap in buckthorn, 26-V-2010 (1); Waterloo Reg., Blair, Whistlebare Rd. and Township Rd. 1, 43.367, -80.358, hedgerow, pitfall, 4-V-2010 (1); Wellington Co., Eramosa, Wellington County Rds. 124 and 29, 43.615, -80.215, hedgerow, pitfall, 4-V-2010 (1).

Diagnosis.

Sunius melanocephalus may be easily recognized among other northeastern members of the genus by the combination of the non-serrate lateral margins of the pronotum and the bicolored body.

This species was accidentally introduced from the Palaearctic region to North America and was first recognized on the continent by Hoebeke (1991) from specimens collected in New York as early as 1924. Since then, it has been detected in Pennsylvania, Vermont ( Byers et al. 2000), and Québec ( Campbell and Davies 1991). As specimen data were not provided for the Québec record, this species’ presence in Canada was uncertain. Herein we verify its occurrence in Canada and newly record it from Ontario based on collections made in 2010 (Map 17); no earlier collections of this species in Ontario were present in DEBU. In the Palaearctic region Sunius melanocephalus is widely distributed ( Smetana in Löbl and Smetana 2004) and inhabits a wide variety of habitats including grasslands, swamps, riverbanks, gardens, parks, arable land and mammal burrows ( Assing 2008). The Ontario specimens were captured in passive traps at the edges of woodlots.