F. G. Werner and B. L. Edwards.
Leptinus americanus Leconte Taken on a Shrew (Coleoptera-Leptinidae).
Psyche 55:51-54, 1948.

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PSYCHE
YOL. 55 JUNE, 1948 No. 2
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LEPTIATLrS AMERICANU8 LECONTE TAKEN ON A SHREW (COLEOPTERA-LEPTINIDB)
BY I?. G. WERNER AND R. L. EDWARDS
Biological Laboratories, Harvard University A fairly extensive literature has developed 011 the curious "mammal nest beetles " and their relationship with their hosts. Several cases have been recorded of beetles actually being taken in the fur of mammals and it. is hoped that with the accumulation of data the signifi- cance of this occurence will become apparent. One of the authors, Edwards, has taken these beetles several times in the fur of a shrew, Blarina brevicauda talpoidas (Gapper).
The animals had been caught in
live-traps and the beetles were on them when they were examined for ectoparasites. The actual records are as follows: 2 S$, 9-Mile Swamp, Hubbardsville, N. Y., 1 hi NOT. and 1 in Dec., 1946 ; 1 <?,I 9, Lake Piseco, N. Y., May 3, 1947; 1 <?, Murphy Woods, Hamilton, N. Y., June 3, 1947.
So specimens were taken in the nests.
Mr. H. S. Barber, of the U.S.D.A. Division of Insect Identification, suggests that this is a case of phoresy, with the primary source of the beetles being the nest of another mammal, whose burrows the shrews had invaded. He gives three cases, in litt., where large numbers have been taken in the nests of moles and one in the nest of a bumblebee. Dury, 1892, tells of getting 107 specimens in a nest in which he had captured a specimen of Blarina brericanda. The caption of his article is "What I found in the Xest of a Field Mouse" so there is some doubt as to the actual identity of the nest. Numerous European references to Leptimts mention mice, moles and shrews. 51
Pu&e 555 1-54 (1948). hup ttpsychu einclub org/S5/55-OSLhtinl



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52 Psyche [June
Others mention finding them in caves. As will be pointed out below, these do not refer to the same species as our Leptinzis.
When the specimens were checked by Werner, the other author, it was discovered that there were significant differences between the series at hand and the specimens used in the figures of the European species bv Jeanne1 and by Sharp and lluir. This led to closer examina- tion. There is little if any difference in general appear- ance. The only discernible differences were the wider eighth antenna1 segment, which was narrower than the ad- jacent segments in testaceus, and the slightly wider clyp- eus. When the male genitalia were examined, it was found that great disparity exists. Our species has the para- meres wider and with eight apical set= in addition to the two long subapical setae. B.oth Jeannel's and Sharp and Muir's figures of the male genitalia show only two long subapical setae and some differences in general shape and proportion. Jeannel figures the tips of the mandibles as simple, while our species has the tips bifid. Two spe- cimens dissected by Mr. Barber and kindly loaned for comparison, one from Bareges, Pyrenees, France, and the other from Torrington, England, have genitalic char- acters as in the figures of Sharp and Muir and of Jeannel. The mandibles of these specimens were not examined as this would entail further dissection of the specimens and placing the mandibles on a slide.
Since major differences in the genitalia usually are taxonomically significant, our Lepthus is surely differ- ent from Leptims testaceus (Miill.). Leptinus umer- icanus LeConte was described from Iowa. IT~ifo~tun- Leptinus americanus Lee.
Camera lucida drawings of New York specimens mentioned in the text. Figs. 3-5 from cleared specimens on slides, 1 & 2 from dissection of an alcoholic specimen.
All deposited in M.C.Z.
Fig. 1.
Male genitalia, left lateral view, 238 X. Fig. 2.
Male genitalia, dorsal view, 238 x.
Fig. 3. Right antenna of female, dorsal view, 49 x. Fig. 4. Dorsal view of head of female, 49 X. Fig. 5. Tip of left mandible, ventral view, 382 x.



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WERNEE AND EDWARDS-LEPTINUS AMERICANUS




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54 Psyche I. .Time
ately, all four specimens in the type series are females so that no check could be made of the male genitalia but the external characters check perfectly with the Sew York series. Undoubtedly, most or all of the specimens from eastern North America should be assigned to this species. Bury, 0. 1892. J,our. Cincinnati N. H. Soc., 14: 183. .Jeannel, R. 1922. Arch. Zool. Exp. et Gen. 60: 557. LeConte, J. L. 1866. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 186 Sharp, D., and Muir, F. 1912. Trans. Ent. Soc. London, 912: 506: pl. 51, fig. 55, 55a.
6: 3D7.




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