Cephennium gallicum Ganglbauer

Majka, Christopher & Klimaszewski, Jan, 2004, Phloeocharis subtilissima Mannerheim (Staphylinidae: Phloeo­ charinae) and Cephennium gallicum Ganglbauer (Scydmaenidae) new to North America: a case study in the introduction of exotic Coleoptera to the port of Halifax, with new records of other species, Zootaxa 781, pp. 1-15 : 6-7

Cephennium gallicum Ganglbauer

On five occasions (July 7, 2001, May 11, 2002, June 9, 2002, September 22, 2002, and October 9, 2004) six specimens of Cephennium gallicum Ganglbauer were collected in Point Pleasant Park. Five specimens were collected under the bark of branches or limbs of recently fallen or damaged white pine. The sixth specimen was collected while sweep netting through heath vegetation in a small sphagnum bog. Additionally, Peter Hammond collected four specimens in the Park in July, 1988 (NHM). These records represent the first report of this species in North American ( Figures 3 and 4 ). Cephennium gallicum is also the only species of Palearctic scydmaenid known to have become established in North America .

The sub­cortical environment which C. gallicum inhabits is on wood which has been dead for at least a couple of years. The phloem layer has been almost completely consumed by bark­ and wood­boring insects ( Cerambycidae , Scolytinae , and Buprestidae ) which are now almost completely absent. The outer layer of the bark is loosely attached to the xylem leaving considerable open space beneath. Present in this habitat are considerable numbers of oribatid mites and in all occasions when C. gallicum were found, they were associated with these mites. On two occasions individuals of C. gallicum were observed with oribatid mites grasped in their mandibles. Other arthropods seen in this habitat include various entomobryid springtails (Collembola) and the weevils Cossonus americanus Buchanan , Himatium errans LeConte , and Rhyncolus brunneus Mannerheim ( Curculionidae : Cossoninae ), which appear to thrive in this rather dry environment.

As is the case with P. subtilissima , C. gallicum appears confined to the forests of Point Pleasant Park. Fieldwork in adjacent areas has not yielded specimens. Individuals have been found from May 11 to October 9.

Figures

FIGURE 3: Cephennium gallicum Ganglbauer, Point Pleasant Park, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Dorsal habitus.

FIGURE 4: Cephennium gallicum Ganglbauer, Point Pleasant Park, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Lateral habitus.