The first Alabama, USA, collection records of the families Micromalthidae and Jacobsoniidae (Coleoptera)

are reported

Brattain, R. Michael

King, Timothy N.

English

King, Timothy N., Brattain, R. Michael (2012): First records of Micromalthidae and Jacobsoniidae (Coleoptera) in Alabama, USA. Insecta Mundi 2012 (235): 1-

NEUROSURGERY ENTHUSIASTIC WOMEN SOCIETY

First records of Micromalthidae and Jacobsoniidae (Coleoptera) in Alabama, USA

The first Alabama, USA, collection records of the families Micromalthidae and Jacobsoniidae (Coleoptera) are reported

DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska

University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Insecta Mundi Center for Systematic Entomology, Gainesville, Florida 6-15-2012 First records of Micromalthidae and Jacobsoniidae (Coleoptera) in Alabama, USA Timothy N. King Highland Lake, AL, timkpest@otelco.net R. Michael Brattain Lafayette, IN, rmichaelbrattain@aol.com Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/insectamundi  Part of the Entomology Commons King, Timothy N. and Brattain, R. Michael, "First records of Micromalthidae and Jacobsoniidae (Coleoptera) in Alabama, USA" (2012). Insecta Mundi. 748. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/insectamundi/748 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Center for Systematic Entomology, Gainesville, Florida at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Insecta Mundi by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. CENTER FOR SYSTEMATIC ENTOMOLOGY, INC., Gainesville, FLFirst records of Micromalthidae and Jacobsoniidae (Coleoptera)in Alabama, USATimothy N. King1453 Lakeshore Dr.Highland Lake, AL 35121R. Michael Brattain505 Lingle TerraceLafayette, IN 47901Date of Issue: June 15, 20120235INSECTAMUNDI A Journal of World Insect SystematicsTimothy N. King and R. Michael BrattainFirst records of Micromalthidae and Jacobsoniidae (Coleoptera) in Alabama, USAInsecta Mundi 0235: 1-2Published in 2012 byCenter for Systematic Entomology, Inc.P. O. Box 141874Gainesville, FL 32614-1874 USAhttp://www.centerforsystematicentomology.org/Insecta Mundi is a journal primarily devoted to insect systematics, but articles can be published onany non-marine arthropod. Topics considered for publication include systematics, taxonomy,  nomencla-ture, checklists, faunal works, and natural history. Insecta Mundi will not consider works in theapplied sciences (i.e. medical entomology, pest control research, etc.), and no longer publishes book re-views or editorials. Insecta Mundi publishes original research or discoveries in an inexpensive andtimely manner, distributing them free via open access on the internet on the date of publication.Insecta Mundi is referenced or abstracted by several sources including the Zoological Record, CABAbstracts, etc. Insecta Mundi is published irregularly throughout the year, with completed manu-scripts assigned an individual number. Manuscripts must be peer reviewed prior to submission, afterwhich they are reviewed by the editorial board to ensure quality. One author of each submitted manu-script must be a current member of the Center for Systematic Entomology. Manuscript preparationguidelines are availablr at the CSE website.Managing editor: Paul E. Skelley, e-mail: insectamundi@gmail.comProduction editor: Michael C. Thomas, Brian Armitage, Ian StocksEditorial board: J. H. Frank, M. J. PaulsenSubject editors: G.B. Edwards, J. Eger, A. Rasmussen, F. Shockley, G. Steck, Ian Stocks, A. Van Pelt,J. ZaspelSpanish editors: Julieta Brambila, Angélico AsenjoPrinted copies (ISSN 0749-6737) deposited in libraries of:CSIRO, Canberra, ACT, AustraliaMuseu de Zoologia, São Paulo, BrazilAgriculture and Agrifood Canada, Ottawa, ON, CanadaThe Natural History Museum, London, Great BritainMuzeum i Instytut Zoologiczny PAN, Warsaw, PolandNational Taiwan University, Taipei, TaiwanCalifornia Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA, USAFlorida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Gainesville, FL, USAField Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL, USANational Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USAZoological Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint-Petersburg, RussiaElectronic copies (On-Line ISSN 1942-1354, CDROM ISSN 1942-1362) in PDF format:Printed CD mailed to all members at end of year.Florida Center for Library Automation: http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/insectamundiUniversity of Nebraska-Lincoln, Digital Commons: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/insectamundi/Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main: http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/volltexte/2010/14363/Author instructions available on the Insecta Mundi page at:http://www.centerforsystematicentomology.org/insectamundi/Copyright held by the author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons,Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduc-tion in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/10235: 1-2 2012First records of Micromalthidae and Jacobsoniidae (Coleoptera)in Alabama, USATimothy N. King1453 Lakeshore Dr.Highland Lake, AL 35121timkpest@otelco.netR. Michael Brattain505 Lingle TerraceLafayette, IN 47901rmichaelbrattain@aol.comAbstract. The first Alabama, USA, collection records of the families Micromalthidae and Jacobsoniidae (Coleoptera)are reported.DiscussionWhile sorting through a Berlese sample collected from the Highland Lake area in Blount Co., Ala-bama on July 25, 2009, TNK found a specimen of Micromalthus debilis LeConte. This is the first recordof this species reported from Alabama. Micromalthus debilis is the only species in the family Micromalthidae(Barber 1913, Philips and Young 2001). It is native to the eastern United States and perhaps Belize.While M. debilis is known from several states (Downie and Arnett 1996), individual collecting events, asevidenced by collection records, appear rare. The species has been widely distributed by commerce, andits range now includes British Columbia, New Mexico and the overseas localities of Brazil, Cuba, HongKong, Hawaii and South Africa (Arnett and Thomas 2000). In early 2011, TNK read a paper authored byPhillips (2001) on Micromalthidae in which he reported the collection of a specimen of M. debilis inBelize from a Flight Intercept Trap (FIT). On June 19, 2011 TNK set-up two FITs at his house (HighlandLake, AL) from which 21 specimens of M. debilis were collected from August 4 – August 21, 2011.On June 20, 2011 a specimen of a jacobsoniid beetle was collected in one of the FITs. A secondspecimen was collected from this same trap on July 20, 2011. The family Jacobsoniidae has not beenpreviously reported to occur in Alabama (Háva and Löbl 2005). The family was first reported in thecontinental U.S. by Peck and Thomas (1998) from specimens collected in Florida. The Alabama speci-mens key to Derolathrus cavernicolus Peck, described from Florida (Peck 2010). The described species ofJacobsoniidae are widespread, also occurring in Brazil, Fiji, Guadeloupe, Hawaii, Madera, Mauritiusand Sri Lanka. Jacobsoniid beetles have been found in leaf litter, wood debris, bat guano and under bark(Philips et al. 2001). Specimens are most often collected from Berlese extractions of litter or FITs.Materials and MethodsThe following institutions and personal collections were contacted in attempting to locate any addi-tional Alabama records of Micromalthidae or Jacobsoniidae: Auburn University Entomology Museum,Auburn, AL (AUEM); Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL (FMNH); Florida State Collectionof Arthropods, Gainesville, FL (FSCA); Purdue Entomological Research Collection, W. Lafayette, IN(PERC); Robert H. Turnbow Collection, Enterprise, AL (RHTC); University of Georgia Collection ofArthropods, Athens, GA (UGCA), and the National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC (USNM).There were no additional Alabama records. Specimens of Micromalthidae will be deposited in each of thecontributing collections; the specimens of Jacobsoniidae will remain in the authors’ collections.2 • INSECTA MUNDI 0235, June 2012 KING AND BRATTAINAcknowledgmentsWe thank Dr. Michael Thomas for confirming our identification of the jacobsoniid beetle to the genusDerolathrus Sharp (1908) and Dr. Robert Turnbow for verifying that this is apparently the first reportedAlabama collection record for Micromalthidae and Jacobsoniidae. We also thank the following individu-als for their assistance: Edward Hoebeke (UGCA), Dr. Al Newton (FMNH), Arwin Provonsha (PERC),Dr. Charles Ray (AUEM), Dr. Floyd Shockley (USNM), Dr. Paul Skelley (FSCA), and Dr. Robert Turnbow(RHTC). A final thank you to Dr. Robert Turnbow and Robert Brown for their constructive comments onthis note.Literature CitedArnett, R. H., Jr., and M. C. Thomas. 2000. Family 78. Jacobsoniidae. p. 446-447. In: R. H. Arnett,Jr. American Insects, a handbook of the insects of America north of Mexico. Second edition. CRCPress; Boca Raton, FL. 1001 p.Barber, H. S. 1913. The remarkable life history of a new family (Micromalthidae) of beetles. Proceed-ings of the Entomological Society of Washington 15: 31-38.Downey, N. M., and R. H. Arnett., Jr. 1996. Family 63. Micromalthidae. The Beetles of NortheasternNorth America, Vol.1. The Sandhill Crane Press; Gainesville, Florida. 880 p.Háva, J., and I. Löbl. 2005. A world catalogue of the family Jacobsoniidae (Coleoptera). Studies andReports of District Museum Prague-East, Taxonomical Ser. 1: 89-94.Peck, S. B., and M. C.Thomas. 1998. A distributional checklist of the beetles (Coleoptera) of Florida.Arthropods of Florida and Neighboring Land Areas16: 1-180.Peck, S. B. 2010. Derolthrus cavernicolus n. sp., a beetle family new for North America (Coleoptera:Jacobsoniidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 103(1): 1-6.Philips, T. K. 2001. A record of Micromalthus debilis (Coleoptera: Micromalthidae) from Central Americaand a discussion of its distribution. Florida Entomologist 84(1): 159-160.Philips, T. K., and D. K. Young. 2001. Family 2. Micromalthidae. p. 22-23. In: R. H. Arnett, Jr., andM.C. Thomas (eds.). American Beetles, Vol. 1. CRC Press; Boca Raton, FL. 443 p.Philips, T. Keith, M. A. Ivie, and J. J. Giersch. 2001. Family 65. Jacobsoniidae. p. 219-220. In: R. H.Arnett, Jr., M. C. Thomas, P. E. Skelley, and J. H. Frank (eds.). American Beetles, Vol. 2. CRC Press;Boca Raton, FL. 861 p.Sharp, D. 1908. Derolathrus, gen. nov. p. 430-431 and plate XVI, figs. 8-11. In: D. Sharp (ed.). FaunaHawaiiensis or the Zoology of the Sandwich (Hawaiian) Isles. Vol. 3, part V. Coleoptera III: 367-579.Received February 29, 2012; Accepted March 26, 2012.

First records of Micromalthidae and Jacobsoniidae (Coleoptera)
in Alabama, USA

Hochschulschriftenserver - Universität Frankfurt am Main

CENTER FOR SYSTEMATIC ENTOMOLOGY, INC., Gainesville, FLFirst records of Micromalthidae and Jacobsoniidae (Coleoptera)in Alabama, USATimothy N. King1453 Lakeshore Dr.Highland Lake, AL 35121R. Michael Brattain505 Lingle TerraceLafayette, IN 47901Date of Issue: June 15, 20120235INSECTAMUNDI A Journal of World Insect SystematicsTimothy N. King and R. Michael BrattainFirst records of Micromalthidae and Jacobsoniidae (Coleoptera) in Alabama, USAInsecta Mundi 0235: 1-2Published in 2012 byCenter for Systematic Entomology, Inc.P. O. Box 141874Gainesville, FL 32614-1874 USAhttp://www.centerforsystematicentomology.org/Insecta Mundi is a journal primarily devoted to insect systematics, but articles can be published onany non-marine arthropod. Topics considered for publication include systematics, taxonomy,  nomencla-ture, checklists, faunal works, and natural history. Insecta Mundi will not consider works in theapplied sciences (i.e. medical entomology, pest control research, etc.), and no longer publishes book re-views or editorials. Insecta Mundi publishes original research or discoveries in an inexpensive andtimely manner, distributing them free via open access on the internet on the date of publication.Insecta Mundi is referenced or abstracted by several sources including the Zoological Record, CABAbstracts, etc. Insecta Mundi is published irregularly throughout the year, with completed manu-scripts assigned an individual number. Manuscripts must be peer reviewed prior to submission, afterwhich they are reviewed by the editorial board to ensure quality. One author of each submitted manu-script must be a current member of the Center for Systematic Entomology. Manuscript preparationguidelines are availablr at the CSE website.Managing editor: Paul E. Skelley, e-mail: insectamundi@gmail.comProduction editor: Michael C. Thomas, Brian Armitage, Ian StocksEditorial board: J. H. Frank, M. J. PaulsenSubject editors: G.B. Edwards, J. Eger, A. Rasmussen, F. Shockley, G. Steck, Ian Stocks, A. Van Pelt,J. ZaspelSpanish editors: Julieta Brambila, Angélico AsenjoPrinted copies (ISSN 0749-6737) deposited in libraries of:CSIRO, Canberra, ACT, AustraliaMuseu de Zoologia, São Paulo, BrazilAgriculture and Agrifood Canada, Ottawa, ON, CanadaThe Natural History Museum, London, Great BritainMuzeum i Instytut Zoologiczny PAN, Warsaw, PolandNational  Taiwan University,  Taipei,  TaiwanCalifornia Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA, USAFlorida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Gainesville, FL, USAField Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL, USANational Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USAZoological Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint-Petersburg, RussiaElectronic copies (On-Line ISSN 1942-1354, CDROM ISSN 1942-1362) in PDF format:Printed CD mailed to all members at end of year.Florida  Center  for Library  Automation:  http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/insectamundiUniversity of Nebraska-Lincoln, Digital Commons: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/insectamundi/Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main: http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/volltexte/2010/14363/Author instructions available on the Insecta Mundi page at:http://www.centerforsystematicentomology.org/insectamundi/Copyright held by the author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons,Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduc-tion in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/10235: 1-2 2012First records of Micromalthidae and Jacobsoniidae (Coleoptera)in Alabama, USATimothy N. King1453 Lakeshore Dr.Highland Lake, AL 35121timkpest@otelco.netR. Michael Brattain505 Lingle TerraceLafayette, IN 47901rmichaelbrattain@aol.comAbstract. The first Alabama, USA, collection records of the families Micromalthidae and Jacobsoniidae (Coleoptera)are reported.DiscussionWhile sorting through a Berlese sample collected from the Highland Lake area in Blount Co., Ala-bama on July 25, 2009, TNK found a specimen of Micromalthus debilis LeConte. This is the first recordof this species reported from Alabama. Micromalthus debilis is the only species in the family Micromalthidae(Barber 1913, Philips and Young 2001). It is native to the eastern United States and perhaps Belize.While M. debilis is known from several states (Downie and Arnett 1996), individual collecting events, asevidenced by collection records, appear rare. The species has been widely distributed by commerce, andits range now includes British Columbia, New Mexico and the overseas localities of Brazil, Cuba, HongKong, Hawaii and South Africa (Arnett and Thomas 2000). In early 2011, TNK read a paper authored byPhillips (2001) on Micromalthidae in which he reported the collection of a specimen of M. debilis inBelize from a Flight Intercept Trap (FIT). On June 19, 2011 TNK set-up two FITs at his house (HighlandLake, AL) from which 21 specimens of M. debilis were collected from August 4 – August 21, 2011.On June 20, 2011 a specimen of a jacobsoniid beetle was collected in one of the FITs. A secondspecimen was collected from this same trap on July 20, 2011. The family Jacobsoniidae has not beenpreviously reported to occur in Alabama (Háva and Löbl 2005). The family was first reported in thecontinental U.S. by Peck and Thomas (1998) from specimens collected in Florida. The Alabama speci-mens key to Derolathrus cavernicolus Peck, described from Florida (Peck 2010). The described species ofJacobsoniidae are widespread, also occurring in Brazil, Fiji, Guadeloupe, Hawaii, Madera, Mauritiusand Sri Lanka. Jacobsoniid beetles have been found in leaf litter, wood debris, bat guano and under bark(Philips et al. 2001). Specimens are most often collected from Berlese extractions of litter or FITs.Materials and MethodsThe following institutions and personal collections were contacted in attempting to locate any addi-tional Alabama records of Micromalthidae or Jacobsoniidae: Auburn University Entomology Museum,Auburn, AL (AUEM); Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL (FMNH); Florida State Collectionof Arthropods, Gainesville, FL (FSCA); Purdue Entomological Research Collection, W. Lafayette, IN(PERC); Robert H. Turnbow Collection, Enterprise, AL (RHTC); University of Georgia Collection ofArthropods, Athens, GA (UGCA), and the National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC (USNM).There were no additional Alabama records. Specimens of Micromalthidae will be deposited in each of thecontributing collections; the specimens of Jacobsoniidae will remain in the authors’ collections.2 • INSECTA MUNDI 0235, June 2012 KING AND BRATTAINAcknowledgmentsWe thank Dr. Michael Thomas for confirming our identification of the jacobsoniid beetle to the genusDerolathrus Sharp (1908) and Dr. Robert Turnbow for verifying that this is apparently the first reportedAlabama collection record for Micromalthidae and Jacobsoniidae. We also thank the following individu-als for their assistance: Edward Hoebeke (UGCA), Dr. Al Newton (FMNH), Arwin Provonsha (PERC),Dr. Charles Ray (AUEM), Dr. Floyd Shockley (USNM), Dr. Paul Skelley (FSCA), and Dr. Robert Turnbow(RHTC). A final thank you to Dr. Robert Turnbow and Robert Brown for their constructive comments onthis note.Literature CitedArnett, R. H., Jr., and M. C. Thomas. 2000. Family 78. Jacobsoniidae. p. 446-447. In: R. H. Arnett,Jr. American Insects, a handbook of the insects of America north of Mexico. Second edition. CRCPress; Boca Raton, FL. 1001 p.Barber, H. S. 1913. The remarkable life history of a new family (Micromalthidae) of beetles. Proceed-ings of the Entomological Society of Washington 15: 31-38.Downey, N. M., and R. H. Arnett., Jr. 1996. Family 63. Micromalthidae. The Beetles of NortheasternNorth America, Vol.1. The Sandhill Crane Press; Gainesville, Florida. 880 p.Háva, J., and I. Löbl. 2005. A world catalogue of the family Jacobsoniidae (Coleoptera). Studies andReports of District Museum Prague-East, Taxonomical Ser. 1: 89-94.Peck, S. B., and M. C.Thomas. 1998. A distributional checklist of the beetles (Coleoptera) of Florida.Arthropods of Florida and Neighboring Land Areas16: 1-180.Peck, S. B. 2010. Derolthrus cavernicolus n. sp., a beetle family new for North America (Coleoptera:Jacobsoniidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 103(1): 1-6.Philips, T. K. 2001. A record of Micromalthus debilis (Coleoptera: Micromalthidae) from Central Americaand a discussion of its distribution. Florida Entomologist 84(1): 159-160.Philips, T. K., and D. K. Young. 2001. Family 2. Micromalthidae. p. 22-23. In: R. H. Arnett, Jr., andM.C. Thomas (eds.). American Beetles, Vol. 1. CRC Press; Boca Raton, FL. 443 p.Philips, T. Keith, M. A. Ivie, and J. J. Giersch. 2001. Family 65. Jacobsoniidae. p. 219-220. In: R. H.Arnett, Jr., M. C. Thomas, P . E. Skelley, and J. H. Frank (eds.). American Beetles, Vol. 2. CRC Press;Boca Raton, FL. 861 p.Sharp, D. 1908. Derolathrus, gen. nov. p. 430-431 and plate XVI, figs. 8-11. In: D. Sharp (ed.). FaunaHawaiiensis or the Zoology of the Sandwich (Hawaiian) Isles. Vol. 3, part V . Coleoptera III: 367-579.Received February 29, 2012; Accepted March 26, 2012.

UNL | Libraries

University of Nebraska - Lincoln 
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln 
Insecta Mundi Center for Systematic Entomology, Gainesville, Florida 
6-15-2012 
First records of Micromalthidae and Jacobsoniidae (Coleoptera) 
in Alabama, USA 
Timothy N. King 
Highland Lake, AL, timkpest@otelco.net 
R. Michael Brattain 
Lafayette, IN, rmichaelbrattain@aol.com 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/insectamundi 
 Part of the Entomology Commons 
King, Timothy N. and Brattain, R. Michael, "First records of Micromalthidae and Jacobsoniidae 
(Coleoptera) in Alabama, USA" (2012). Insecta Mundi. 748. 
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/insectamundi/748 
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Center for Systematic Entomology, Gainesville, Florida 
at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Insecta Mundi by an 
authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. 
CENTER FOR SYSTEMATIC ENTOMOLOGY, INC., Gainesville, FL
First records of Micromalthidae and Jacobsoniidae (Coleoptera)
in Alabama, USA
Timothy N. King
1453 Lakeshore Dr.
Highland Lake, AL 35121
R. Michael Brattain
505 Lingle Terrace
Lafayette, IN 47901
Date of Issue: June 15, 2012
0235
INSECTA
MUNDI A Journal of World Insect Systematics
Timothy N. King and R. Michael Brattain
First records of Micromalthidae and Jacobsoniidae (Coleoptera) in Alabama, USA
Insecta Mundi 0235: 1-2
Published in 2012 by
Center for Systematic Entomology, Inc.
P. O. Box 141874
Gainesville, FL 32614-1874 USA
http://www.centerforsystematicentomology.org/
Insecta Mundi is a journal primarily devoted to insect systematics, but articles can be published on
any non-marine arthropod. Topics considered for publication include systematics, taxonomy,  nomencla-
ture, checklists, faunal works, and natural history. Insecta Mundi will not consider works in the
applied sciences (i.e. medical entomology, pest control research, etc.), and no longer publishes book re-
views or editorials. Insecta Mundi publishes original research or discoveries in an inexpensive and
timely manner, distributing them free via open access on the internet on the date of publication.
Insecta Mundi is referenced or abstracted by several sources including the Zoological Record, CAB
Abstracts, etc. Insecta Mundi is published irregularly throughout the year, with completed manu-
scripts assigned an individual number. Manuscripts must be peer reviewed prior to submission, after
which they are reviewed by the editorial board to ensure quality. One author of each submitted manu-
script must be a current member of the Center for Systematic Entomology. Manuscript preparation
guidelines are availablr at the CSE website.
Managing editor: Paul E. Skelley, e-mail: insectamundi@gmail.com
Production editor: Michael C. Thomas, Brian Armitage, Ian Stocks
Editorial board: J. H. Frank, M. J. Paulsen
Subject editors: G.B. Edwards, J. Eger, A. Rasmussen, F. Shockley, G. Steck, Ian Stocks, A. Van Pelt,
J. Zaspel
Spanish editors: Julieta Brambila, Angélico Asenjo
Printed copies (ISSN 0749-6737) deposited in libraries of:
CSIRO, Canberra, ACT, Australia
Museu de Zoologia, São Paulo, Brazil
Agriculture and Agrifood Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada
The Natural History Museum, London, Great Britain
Muzeum i Instytut Zoologiczny PAN, Warsaw, Poland
National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA, USA
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Gainesville, FL, USA
Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL, USA
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
Zoological Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint-Petersburg, Russia
Electronic copies (On-Line ISSN 1942-1354, CDROM ISSN 1942-1362) in PDF format:
Printed CD mailed to all members at end of year.
Florida Center for Library Automation: http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/insectamundi
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Digital Commons: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/insectamundi/
Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main: http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/volltexte/2010/14363/
Author instructions available on the Insecta Mundi page at:
http://www.centerforsystematicentomology.org/insectamundi/
Copyright held by the author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons,
Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduc-
tion in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by-nc/3.0/
10235: 1-2 2012
First records of Micromalthidae and Jacobsoniidae (Coleoptera)
in Alabama, USA
Timothy N. King
1453 Lakeshore Dr.
Highland Lake, AL 35121
timkpest@otelco.net
R. Michael Brattain
505 Lingle Terrace
Lafayette, IN 47901
rmichaelbrattain@aol.com
Abstract. The first Alabama, USA, collection records of the families Micromalthidae and Jacobsoniidae (Coleoptera)
are reported.
Discussion
While sorting through a Berlese sample collected from the Highland Lake area in Blount Co., Ala-
bama on July 25, 2009, TNK found a specimen of Micromalthus debilis LeConte. This is the first record
of this species reported from Alabama. Micromalthus debilis is the only species in the family Micromalthidae
(Barber 1913, Philips and Young 2001). It is native to the eastern United States and perhaps Belize.
While M. debilis is known from several states (Downie and Arnett 1996), individual collecting events, as
evidenced by collection records, appear rare. The species has been widely distributed by commerce, and
its range now includes British Columbia, New Mexico and the overseas localities of Brazil, Cuba, Hong
Kong, Hawaii and South Africa (Arnett and Thomas 2000). In early 2011, TNK read a paper authored by
Phillips (2001) on Micromalthidae in which he reported the collection of a specimen of M. debilis in
Belize from a Flight Intercept Trap (FIT). On June 19, 2011 TNK set-up two FITs at his house (Highland
Lake, AL) from which 21 specimens of M. debilis were collected from August 4 – August 21, 2011.
On June 20, 2011 a specimen of a jacobsoniid beetle was collected in one of the FITs. A second
specimen was collected from this same trap on July 20, 2011. The family Jacobsoniidae has not been
previously reported to occur in Alabama (Háva and Löbl 2005). The family was first reported in the
continental U.S. by Peck and Thomas (1998) from specimens collected in Florida. The Alabama speci-
mens key to Derolathrus cavernicolus Peck, described from Florida (Peck 2010). The described species of
Jacobsoniidae are widespread, also occurring in Brazil, Fiji, Guadeloupe, Hawaii, Madera, Mauritius
and Sri Lanka. Jacobsoniid beetles have been found in leaf litter, wood debris, bat guano and under bark
(Philips et al. 2001). Specimens are most often collected from Berlese extractions of litter or FITs.
Materials and Methods
The following institutions and personal collections were contacted in attempting to locate any addi-
tional Alabama records of Micromalthidae or Jacobsoniidae: Auburn University Entomology Museum,
Auburn, AL (AUEM); Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL (FMNH); Florida State Collection
of Arthropods, Gainesville, FL (FSCA); Purdue Entomological Research Collection, W. Lafayette, IN
(PERC); Robert H. Turnbow Collection, Enterprise, AL (RHTC); University of Georgia Collection of
Arthropods, Athens, GA (UGCA), and the National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC (USNM).
There were no additional Alabama records. Specimens of Micromalthidae will be deposited in each of the
contributing collections; the specimens of Jacobsoniidae will remain in the authors’ collections.
2 • INSECTA MUNDI 0235, June 2012 KING AND BRATTAIN
Acknowledgments
We thank Dr. Michael Thomas for confirming our identification of the jacobsoniid beetle to the genus
Derolathrus Sharp (1908) and Dr. Robert Turnbow for verifying that this is apparently the first reported
Alabama collection record for Micromalthidae and Jacobsoniidae. We also thank the following individu-
als for their assistance: Edward Hoebeke (UGCA), Dr. Al Newton (FMNH), Arwin Provonsha (PERC),
Dr. Charles Ray (AUEM), Dr. Floyd Shockley (USNM), Dr. Paul Skelley (FSCA), and Dr. Robert Turnbow
(RHTC). A final thank you to Dr. Robert Turnbow and Robert Brown for their constructive comments on
this note.
Literature Cited
Arnett, R. H., Jr., and M. C. Thomas. 2000. Family 78. Jacobsoniidae. p. 446-447. In: R. H. Arnett,
Jr. American Insects, a handbook of the insects of America north of Mexico. Second edition. CRC
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Received February 29, 2012; Accepted March 26, 2012.


King, Timothy N., Brattain, R. Michael (2012): First records of Micromalthidae and Jacobsoniidae (Coleoptera) in Alabama, USA. Insecta Mundi 2012 (235): 1-2, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.517430

First records of Micromalthidae and Jacobsoniidae (Coleoptera) in Alabama, USA

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