Gyrinidae

Young, Ronald M. & Le Tirant, Stephane, 2005, A New Cyclocephala from Montane Colombia (Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae), The Coleopterists Bulletin 59 (2), pp. 267-270 : 270-271

Gyrinidae

Gyrinus marginellus Fall. Florida: Okaloosa County; Turtle Creek at Eglin 234 (lat 30.509, long. —86.6703); 4 August 2002; leg. T. Thom, N. Koch, S. Evans; 2 males. Oygur and Wolfe (1991) gave the southernmost distribution of this gyrinid as Virginia , with one record from Alabama. Ciegler (2003) reported the beetle from Pickens County in South Carolina .

Spanglerogyrus albiventris Folkerts. Florida: Gadsden County; ‘‘Beech’’ Branch tributary to Hurricane Creek, Ochlockonee River basin; 14 April 2004; leg. D. Ray, L. Donelan, F. Butera, W. Keller; 2 males, 1 female. This smallest of North American gyrinids was described from just two localities in Alabama’s Red Hills district by Folkerts (1979); Steiner and Anderson (1981) reported it from another Alabama locality. Ciegler (2003: 23) reported it from two sites in South Carolina’s Piedmont and Sandhills regions, where they were collected by ‘‘dipnetting on stream bottom; along banks of moderate-sized streams.’’ The locality in Florida was a steephead ravine stream. One of us (DHR) saw and dip netted a Spanglerogyrus swimming near rootlets growing from a steep bank overhanging the stream. It was not noted in which microhabitats the other specimens were collected. We suspect that Spanglerogyrus might be finding refugia in cool ravines heavily shaded by beech/magnolia forests. Due to development, this steephead site has been permitted for an impoundment by the FDEP, and the ravine slope forest on the adjacent property was being cleared for equestrian riding stables. By the time this paper is distributed, the only known collection site in Florida for Spanglerogyrus will be gone.

We would like to thank Laurence Donelan, Frank Butera, Randy Payne, Wes Keller, Angela Shrift, Tracy Keefer, Senior Airman Kevin Loscheider, Lesa Stewart, Nicole Koch and Sarah Evans for their assistance in the field.

Literature Cited

Ciegler, J. C. 2003. Water Beetles of South Carolina (Coleoptera: Gyrinidae, Haliplidae, Noteridae, Dytiscidae, Hydrophilidae, Hydraenidae, Scirtidae, Elmidae, Dryopidae, Limnichidae, Heteroceridae, Psephenidae, Ptilodactylidae, and Chelonariidae). Clemson University Public Service Publishing, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina. 210 pp.

Epler, J. H. 1996. Identification Manual for the Water Beetles of Florida (Coleoptera: Dryopidae, Dytiscidae, Elmidae, Gyrinidae, Haliplidae, Hydraenidae, Hydrophilidae, Noteridae, Psephenidae, Ptilodactylidae, Scirtidae). FL Dept. Environ. Protection, Tallahassee, FL. 257 pp.

Folkerts, G. W. 1979. Spanglerogyrus albiventris, a primitive new genus and species of Gyrinidae (Coleoptera) from Alabama. The Coleopterists Bulletin 33: 1–8.

Oygur, S., and G. W. Wolfe. 1991. Classification, distribution, and phylogeny of North American (north of Mexico) species of Gyrinus Müller. Bull. American Museum of Natural History 201: 1–97.

Steiner, W. E., Jr., and J. J. Anderson. 1981. Notes on the natural history of Spanglerogyrus albiventris Folkerts, with a new distribution record (Coleoptera: Gyrinidae). Pan-Pacific Entomologist 57: 124–132.

White, D. S. 1978. A revision of the nearctic Optioservus (Coleoptera: Elmidae), with descriptions of new species. Systematic Entomology 3: 59–74.

J. H. Epler, 461 Tiger Hammock Road, Crawfordville, FL 32327, U.S.A., johnepler@ earthlink.net, D. H. Ray, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, 160 Governmental Center, Pensacola , Florida 32502, U.S.A., and T. A. Thom, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Eglin Air Force Base , Jackson Guard, 107 Hwy 85 N., Niceville , Florida 32578, U.S.A.

(Received 7 December 2004; accepted 18 February 2005. Publication date 1 August 2005.)