A single specimen of Pterostichus punctatissimus (Randall) (Coleoptera: Carabidae) was recovered from an unbaited pitfall trap in northern Wisconsin in late May, 2013. This is the first recorded extant specimen of the species collected in Wisconsin

Larson, Scott

Lee, Xia

Mayry, Jessica

English

ValpoScholar

The Great Lakes Entomologist 
Volume 47 
Numbers 1 & 2 - Spring/Summer 2014 Numbers 
1 & 2 - Spring/Summer 2014 
Article 15 
April 2014 
New Wisconsin Record for Pterostichus Punctatissimus 
(Coleoptera: Carabidae) 
Jessica Mayry 
University of Wisconsin 
Xia Lee 
University of Wisconsin 
Scott Larson 
University of Wisconsin 
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Mayry, Jessica; Lee, Xia; and Larson, Scott 2014. "New Wisconsin Record for Pterostichus Punctatissimus 
(Coleoptera: Carabidae)," The Great Lakes Entomologist, vol 47 (1) 
Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol47/iss1/15 
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2014 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST 95
1Department of Entomology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 445 Russell Laboratories, 
Madison, WI 53706. 
2Department of Entomology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 739 Russell Laboratories, 
Madison, WI 53706
New Wisconsin Record for  
Pterostichus punctatissimus (Coleoptera: Carabidae)
Jessica Mayry1, Xia Lee2 and Scott Larson2
Abstract
A single specimen of Pterostichus punctatissimus (Randall) (Coleoptera: 
Carabidae) was recovered from an unbaited pitfall trap in northern Wisconsin 
in late May, 2013.  This is the first recorded extant specimen of the species col-
lected in Wisconsin.  
 
____________________
Pterostichus punctatissimus (Randall) with elytral furrows and ridges 
forming sinuate patterns may be one of the most attractive species of the genus 
in North America (Bousquet 2012).  This species is characteristic of northern 
boreal forests, found usually under the bark or moss of tree stumps (Lindroth 
1966, Bousquet 2012).  The fifth largest genus of Carabidae in Wisconsin, 
Pterostichus has 23 recorded species (Messer 2009).  An extant specimen of P. 
punctatissimus has not been previously recorded from Wisconsin.   This spe-
cies has been documented from Newfoundland throughout southeastern Yukon 
Territory, Maine, northeastern Minnesota, Michigan, New York, and “Mas-
sachusetts” with confirmation needed for a record in northern Ohio (Bousquet 
and Larochelle 1993, Gandhi et al. 2008, Bousquet 2012).  A single specimen 
of P. punctatissimus was collected for the first time in Wisconsin in May, 2013.
Unbaited pitfall traps were placed in five sites in northern Wisconsin from 
late May to late June, 2013 as part of a study examining possible relationships 
of ground dwelling arthropod communities to deer tick (Ixodes scapularis Say) 
abundance.  A single female specimen of P. punctatissimus was recovered from 
the 20-24 May 2013 sample in northeastern Langlade County.  The collection site 
is approximately 160 m southwest of McCaslin Brook in the Diamond Roof State 
Natural Area, and nestled in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest.  Lowland 
coniferous swamps surrounding the brook consist mainly of black spruce (Picea 
mariana (Mill.), balsam fir (Abies balsamea ( L.) Mill.), white cedar (Chamaecy-
paris thyoides (L.) BSP) and yellow birch (Betula lutea Michx. f.).  Sugar maple 
(Acer saccharum Marsh.), basswood (Tilia spp.) and white ash (Fraxinus ameri-
cana L.) dominate the stream canopy.  The specimen is housed in the University 
of Wisconsin-Madison Insect Research Collection (WIRC), Madison, Wisconsin 
labeled USA: WI: Langlade Co. Diamond Roof SNA approx. 160 m SW of McCaslin 
brook 45.344889°, -88.694333° WGS 84;  20-24 V 2013 Xia Lee.
Fossil remnants of this species have been recorded from Kewaunee, 
Wisconsin (Schwert 1992).  The only recent discovery of an extant specimen in 
Wisconsin may be due to environmental changes facilitating a downward range 
expansion of this species or more likely the infrequency of pitfall trapping in 
northern Wisconsin.
1
Mayry et al.: New Wisconsin Record for <i>Pterostichus Punctatissimus</i> (Cole
Published by ValpoScholar, 2014
96 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST Vol. 47, Nos. 1 - 2
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Peter Messer for confirming the identifica-
tion of the specimen and Daniel K. Young, director of the WIRC, for reviewing 
this manuscript and providing guidance and support in the pursuit of entomologi-
cal knowledge.  This work was supported by a grant from the National Science 
Foundation to Susan M. Paskewitz and John L. Orrock.  
Literature Cited
Bousquet, Y.  2012.  Catalogue of Geadephaga (Coleoptera, Adephaga) of America, north 
of Mexico.  ZooKeys 245: 1–1722.
Bousquet, Y., and A. Larochelle.  1993.  Catalogue of the Geadephaga (Coleoptera: 
Trachypachidae, Rhysodidae, Carabidae including Cicindelini) of America north of 
Mexico.  Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada 167: 1-397.
Gandhi, K. J. K., D. W. Gilmore, S. A. Katovich, W. J. Mattson, J. C. Zasada, and 
S. J. Seybold.  2008.  Catastrophic windstorm and fuel-reduction treatments alter 
ground beetle (Coleoptera : Carabidae) assemblages in a North American sub-boreal 
forest.  Forest Ecology and Management 256: 1104 -1123.
Lindroth, C.  H.  1966.  The ground-beetles (Carabidae, excl. Cicindelinae) of Canada 
and Alaska.  Part 4. Opuscula Entomologica Supplementum No. 29: 409-648.
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record of Coleoptera in the north-central United States.  Coleopterists Bulletin 46: 
68-94. 
2
The Great Lakes Entomologist, Vol. 47, No. 1 [2014], Art. 15
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New Wisconsin Record for \u3ci\u3ePterostichus Punctatissimus\u3c/i\u3e (Coleoptera: Carabidae)

https://scholar.valpo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2297&amp;context=tgle

New Wisconsin Record for \u3ci\u3ePterostichus Punctatissimus\u3c/i\u3e (Coleoptera: Carabidae)

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