Bisnius cephalicus (Casey, 1915)

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

Bisnius cephalicus (Casey, 1915)

Materials.

CANADA: ON:Cochrane Dist., N. Moosonee, sandy beach, ridge along coastal marsh, Picea , Populus , Alnus and herbs, pitfall trap, 23-VI-1990, J. Pilny, (1).

Diagnosis. Bisnius cephalicus is readily distinguished from others of the genus in the northeast by the combination of: body bicolored with orange elytra; pronotum with five punctures in each dorsal row; eyes small, with the space behind them about three times longer (Fig. 6).

At the time of the most recent revision of the genus, this species was known from only two specimens, from Alberta and Manitoba ( Smetana 1995). Later, one specimen was collected in the northern Boreal Forest Region of Québec ( Paquin and Dupérré 2001). Herein we report the fourth specimen known and newly record Bisnius cephalicus from boreal Ontario (Map 19). This species is apparently transboreal in distribution and its poor representation in collections may be due to a cryptic microhabitat. Its relatively small eyes suggest a subterranean existence in the burrows of mammals, similar to that of certain other Bisnius species.