History of Coleoptera collecting in New Brunswick, Canada: advancing our knowledge of the Coleoptera fauna in the early 21st century

The Coleoptera of New Brunswick have generated interest among entomologists for over a century. The first records of Coleoptera from New Brunswick were the adventive Carabus granulatus Linnaeus and Carabus nemoralis Muller collected by W.H. Harrington in Saint John during 1891 (Harrington 1892). The first significant sampling of Coleoptera, and insects in general in New Brunswick, was carried out by members of the Natural History Society of New Brunswick (now the New Brunswick Museum): William McIntosh, Phillip R. McIntosh, A. Gordon Leavitt, and George Morrisey, mostly between 1898 and 1909 (Fairweather and McAlpine 2011). Most of the material was obtained by William McIntosh and A. Gordon Leavitt, who made extensive collections around the Saint John area (Fairweather and McAlpine 2011). By 1914, there were over 24,000 specimens in the Natural History Society of New Brunswick insect holdings, most being Lepidoptera, with about 4,187 specimens of Coleoptera (McIntosh [undated A]). However, only 1,095 of these Coleoptera specimens were still present in the New Brunswick Museum (NBM) holdings in 2010, many apparently were either sent to other people or were lost to insect pests (Fairweather and McAlpine 2011). Among these specimens are the first occurrences of a number of adventive species to the Maritime provinces: Quedius mesomelinus (Marsham) (Staphylinidae) (Majka and Smetana 2007), Attagenus unicolor japonicas Reitter (Dermestidae) (Majka 2007a), Ernobius mollis (Linnaeus) (Ptiliidae) (Majka 2007a), Brachypera zoilus (Scopoli) (Curculionidae) (Majka et al. 2007b), and others, including many that were the first records for New Brunswick and the region.

tected Natural Areas, organized a series of broad-based, volunteer-supported biological inventories (Bioblitzes) at the Jacquet River Gorge Protected Natural Area (PNA), the Caledonia Gorge PNA, and the Grand Lake Lowlands PNA (McAlpine 2011). A significant number of Coleoptera specimens were collected during these surveys, many of which were new provincial records and species new to science. A significant number of beetles were collected between 1992 and 1995 in Fredericton during a study examining vertical and temporal distribution of Carabidae and Elateridae above potato fields, including several species of Elateridae and Carabidae, new to New Brunswick (Boiteau et al. 2000). In another study organized by Jon Sweeney (Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) CFS -AFC) that used pitfall traps to investigate the effects of silvicultural practices on diversity and abundance of ground beetles in red spruce stands, 58 new provincial records and seven species of Staphylinidae new to science were discovered (Klimaszewski et al. 2005). Many Coleoptera from other families, particularly Carabidae, that were collected during this study are in the AFC collection. Reginald Webster conducted additional surveys at these same sites during 2007 as part of a follow-up study examining changes in diversity influenced by succession. Christopher G. Majka began collecting Coleoptera in Albert Co. in 1965 and continues to sample this area (Majka and Johnson 2008 (Majka and LeSage 2007, 2008a, 2008b   . Reginald Webster began intensively sampling beetles in New Brunswick in the early 1990s, initially focusing on the Carabidae, but later broadening his efforts to the Dytiscidae and other families in the early 2000s. Sampling, using a variety of methods such as sifting litter, hand sampling, sweeping, and light trapping, was done throughout the province, but was concentrated in the Fredericton and Charters Settlement area in York Co. and the Grand Lake area in Queens Co. Between 2006 and 2008, Webster in partnership with Stephen Clayden, NBM Curator of Botany, examined the beetle and lichen communities of old-growth New Brunswick cedar stands. This work revealed numerous species among both groups that were new to the region or that were new to science and led directly to the protection of several sites under the provincial Protected Natural Areas Act (McAlpine 2011). Webster also conducted surveys at the Daly Point Reserve in Bathurst, the Stillwater watershed area near Kedgwick in Restigouche Co., the Portobello Creek (Sunbury and Queens Co.) and Shepody National Wildlife (Albert Co.) areas, and the Meduxneakeag Valley Nature Preserve and the Bell Forest in Carleton Co. In a study led by Jon Sweeney (NRCan, AFC) to develop improved methods for survey and detection of exotic and potentially invasive bark and wood-boring beetles (Cerambycidae, Buprestidae, Curculionidae), many Coleoptera specimens were collected in Lindgren funnel traps. Vincent Webster, Chantelle Alderson, Colin MacKay, Marie-Andrée Giguère, Cory Hughes, Michelle Roy, and others collected and processed many of those samples. Experiments were conducted between 2009 and 2015 at sites throughout the province in most forest types, often in old or old-growth stands in Protected Natural Areas.
Webster and various coauthors, published a series of papers between 2008 and 2012 on new records from the province, based on the above sampling efforts. Fiftynine families were treated (listed in taxonomic order) in the following publications,  ). In these papers, new habitat and biological data were presented for many of the species. Smetana and Webster (2011) described Quedius bicoloris Smetana and Webster, based in part on specimens from New Brunswick. Douglas et al. (2013) reported another four species of Anthribidae, one new Brentidae, and 11 new Curculionidae from the province. Revisions by Hieke (2000Hieke ( , 2003 added three species of Amara (Carabidae) to the provincial list. Dwayne Sabine reported the rare Cicindela marginipennis Dejean for the first time from Canada from New Brunswick (Sabine 2004) and Bousquet and Webster (2006) described Bembidion iridipenne Bousquet and Webster and B. nigrivestris Bousquet, in part from specimens collected in New Brunswick.
The Staphylinidae of New Brunswick received relatively little attention prior to the publication of the first edition of the "Checklist of the beetles of Canada and Alaska". Only 166 species of Staphylinidae, including 19 species in the subfamily Aleocharinae, were recorded from the province by Campbell and Davies (1991 Klimaszewski 2008a, b, c, 2010), Aleocharinae [86 NPR including 6 NCR] .
As a result of the above publications and additional data from material in the CNC, the number of species reported from New Brunswick nearly doubled from the 1,365 species reported in the first Checklist of the beetles of Canada and Alaska by Bousquet (1991) to 2,703 species in the latest checklist by Bousquet et al. (2013) (Fig. 1). This is a significant change in our knowledge of the Coleoptera fauna of New Brunswick.
Since the publication of Bousquet et al. (2013) and prior to this current special issue of Zookeys, an additional 53 species have been added to the faunal list of New Brunswick as a result of new species descriptions and new records in recent publications. Klimaszewski et al. (2013Klimaszewski et al. ( , 2014Klimaszewski et al. ( , 2015b added 19 species of Aleocharinae in the genera Atheta, Clusiota, Dinaraea, Gnathusa, Mniusa, Ocyusa, and Mocyta to the faunal list of New Brunswick, based on new species descriptions and new records. Puthz (2014), in a review of North American species of Euaesthetus (Staphylinidae, Euaesthetinae) added nine species to the provincial list, including three that were new to science, based in part on material collected in New Brunswick. Makranczy (2014) in his revision of the Ochthephilus (Oxytelinae), described O. ashei Makanczy, based in part on a specimen from NB, and reported O. forticornis (Hochhuth) and O. planus (LeConte) from the province, both of which were new provincial records. Bousquet and Bouchard (2014), in a review of the Paratenetus of North America, described P. exutus Bousquet and Bouchard (Tenebrionidae) from New Brunswick and included many localities from the province. Carabus a. auratus Linnaeus (Carabidae) was newly recorded for Canada from New Brunswick by Lewis et al. (2015), and Buprestis consularis Gory (Buprestidae) was added by Lewis (2015). Dryocoetes krivolutzkajae Mandelshtam (Curculionidae) was reported for the first time for North America by Cognato et al. (2015), in part, from specimens from New Brunswick. Klimaszewski et al. (2015a) newly recorded the adventive Cryptophagus saginatus Sturm and C. subfumatus Kraatz (Cryptophagidae) in a review of the adventive Cucujoidea of Canada. Most recently, Webster et al. (2016) newly reported 16 species of Cerambycidae.
In this special issue, 303 species and one new subspecies are newly recorded for New Brunswick. Among the new records are 32 species new to science, four new North American records, 21 new Canadian records, 270 new provincial records, and 45 adventive species. Three species were removed from the provincial list and one species was reinstated that was erroneously not included for New Brunswick by Bousquet et al. (2013). This brings the total number of species known from New Brunswick to 3,062. This is a 13% increase in the number of species listed for New Brunswick since Bousquet et al. (2013) and a 124% increase since the publication of Bousquet (1991) (Fig. 1).
It is important to remind ourselves that the understanding of biological diversity is not possible without taxonomic research, which is thought by many to be the foundation of biological science. Data on the mega-diversity of life and knowledge on species identity and distribution require discovery, description, cataloguing, and organization in order to be made accessible to a wide audience. This information constitutes a base- line of biological knowledge that is critical to support other branches of science. The present work provides these baseline data for the Coleoptera occurring in New Brunswick. This work would not have been possible to complete without the enthusiasm, determination, and professionalism of a small number of dedicated individuals who are acknowledged in the papers in this special issue. We hope that this special issue will generate a positive response and further interest in the Coleoptera fauna of New Brunswick and Canada, as many new discoveries await.