Wednesday, December 12, 2007
D0548

Inventory of the Nitidulidae found in flowers of Calycanthus floridus in Northeast, Ohio

Nuris Acosta, acosta.2@osu.edu1, Roger Williams, williams.14@osu.edu2, and Dan Fickle, fickle.1@osu.edu2. (1) Ohio State University / OARDC, Entomology, 1680 Madison Ave, Wooster, OH, (2) Ohio State University, Entomology, 1680 Madison Ave, Wooster, OH

The main objective of this study was to determine the breadth of attractiveness of spice bush flowers, Calycanthus floridus, to nitidulid beetles. Beetle collections were made during bloom at the Secrest Arboretum on the Wooster Campus of the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) of The Ohio State University and nearby areas from May to mid July of 1991 to 2002. Up to a hundred blossoms were collected at each sampling interval (3-4 days). Samples were placed in plastic bags and transported to the laboratory where they were inspected for nitidulid beetles. Nitidulids were identified by Sean Ellis at OARDC and Michele Boeing Price of the University of Wisconsin. A total of 1993 nitidulids were collected, representing 20 species and 9 genera. The most common species identified was Carpophilus lugubris Murray which accounted for approximately half of the nitidulids collected. The second most abundant nitidulid was Colopterus truncatus (Randall) with almost six hundred insects (28%), followed by Carpophilus brachypterus (Say) with 235 insects (12%) and Glischrochilus quadrisignatus (Say) with 102 (5%). The remaining species accounted for less than 3% of the insects identified. Data indicated a diverse range of nitidulid species were attracted to C. floridus flowers, with C. lugubris and C. truncatus accounting for more than 80% of the nitidulids attracted to the Calycanthus blossoms.


Species 1: Coleoptera Nitidulidae Carpophilus lugubris (dusky sap beetle)
Species 2: Coleoptera Nitidulidae Colopterus truncatus
Species 3: Coleoptera Nitidulidae Carpophilus brachypterus