Sepedophilus versicolor (Casey, 1884)

Brunke, Adam J. & Marshall, Stephen A., 2011, Contributions to the faunistics and bionomics of Staphylinidae (Coleoptera) in northeastern North America: discoveries made through study of the University of Guelph Insect Collection, Ontario, Canada, ZooKeys 75, pp. 29-68 : 37

Sepedophilus versicolor (Casey, 1884)

Materials.

CANADA: ON: Kent Co., Rondeau Prov. Pk., spicebush trail, Carolinian forest, malaise, 3 to 16-VII-2003 (1), 15-VIII to 7-IX-2003 (1), Marshall et al., 16 to 29-VII-2003, S.A. Marshall (1).

Diagnosis.

Sepedophilus versicolor can be easily separated from others of the genus except Sepedophilus crassus and Sepedophilus ctenidialis by the apical ctenidium of the mesotibia, which extends upwards along the lateral edge ( Campbell 1976). It is best distinguished from Sepedophilus crassus and Sepedophilus ctenidialis by the combination of: abdominal sternites four to six with three lateral bristles; abdominal sternites five and six with only one bristle at each side of the midline; smaller size (2.0-2.5mm from clypeus to elytral apex).

This species is broadly distributed in eastern North America and was previously known from District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Virginia ( Campbell 1976). Herein we newly record it from Canada (Ontario) (Map 8). This species apparently reaches its northern limit in Ontario’s Carolinian forests. Little is known about its bionomics although it has been found on mushrooms ( Campbell 1976) like the related Sepedophilus crassus and in a 'rotten stump with a small nest’ ( Watrous 2008).