Cryptophagidae Kirby, 1826

Berx, Peter, Bosmans, Bart, Dekoninck, Wouter, Janssen, Marc, Stassen, Eugène & Crevecoeur, Luc, 2023, Faunistic survey of myrmecophilous and other ant-associated beetles and spiders in the Belgian province of Limburg (Araneae, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Belgian Journal of Entomology 141, pp. 1-61 : 13

Cryptophagidae Kirby, 1826

The Cryptophagidae or silken-fungus beetles are labelled as saproxylic beetles and therefore can often be found in the same environment as the typical ants of deciduous forests, L. brunneus and Myrmica ruginodis . But also in the neighbourhood of the ant L. fuliginosus , with his carton-like nest construction made of small wood particles glued together with the sugars of the harvested honeydew, we regularly found Cryptophagidae . The sugars also provide the breeding ground for ascomycete fungi, which make the nest construction more solid. It cannot be excluded that the small mycetophagous beetle Atomaria nigrirostris (1.7-1.9 mm) is attracted by the fungi present in the nest, which may explain its symbiosis with this ant. Cryptophagus labilis (2.0– 2.5mm) as well as the other fungivore species of this genus prefer dead trees, a microhabitat they like to share with L. brunneus (Annex) who excavate tunnels and galleries for their nest in dead trunks. Several Cryptophagus species have been found to live in wasp nests ( KÖHLER, 2000). Through our study, C. dentatus (1.9-2.9 mm) ( Fig. 10 ) can be linked to the tree dwelling ant T. affinis for the first time. Studying the habitat requirements of saproxylic beetles, researchers evaluated the preference of the beetles for mid-canopy or forest floor branches with flight interception traps. In their results, they indicate that C. dentatus is assigned to the canopy assemblages ( BOUGET et al., 2011). This preference is consistent with the choice of microhabitat of T. affinis who builds its nests in the crown of the host tree ( SEIFERT, 1994).

Figures

Fig.10. Cryptophagus dentatus (Herbst, 1793) (1.9mm; range 1.9-2.9mm). © U. Schmidt.