New Coleoptera records from New Brunswick, Canada: Eucinetidae and Scirtidae

Abstract We report two species of Eucinetidae, Nycteus oviformis (LeConte) and Nycteus punctulatus (LeConte), new to New Brunswick, Canada and confirm the presence of Nycteus testaceus (LeConte). Nycteus oviformis is newly recorded from the Maritime provinces. Additional locality data are provided for Eucinetus haemorrhoidalis (Germar) and Eucinetus morio LeConte. Five species of Scirtidae, Cyphon ruficollis (Say),Prionocyphon discoideus (Say), Sacodes pulchella (Guérin-Méneville), Elodes maculicollis Horn, and Sarabandus robustus (LeConte) are added to the New Brunswick faunal list. Sarabandus robustus is newly recorded from Canada; Cyphon ruficollis, Prionocyphon discoideus and Sacodes pulchella are new for the Maritime provinces. Collection and habitat data, and distribution maps are presented for these species.


Introduction
This paper treats new records from New Brunswick of two related families of beetles, the Eucinetidae and Scirtidae. The Eucinetidae of the Maritime provinces (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island) of Canada was recently treated by Majka (2010), who reported two species from New Brunswick. Campbell (1991a) reported seven species of Scirtidae from New Brunswick. However, there have been no recent treatments of this family from the region. Intensive sampling in New Brunswick by the first author since 2003 and records obtained from by-catch samples from Lindgren funnel traps in various New Brunswick forest habitats from 2008-2011 have yielded additional new provincial records in the above families. The purpose of this paper is to report on these new records. A brief synopsis of each family is included in the results below.

Methods and conventions
The following records are based on specimens collected during a general survey by the first author to document the Coleoptera fauna of New Brunswick and from by-catch samples obtained in trapping experiments testing attractants for surveying Cerambycidae. Additional provincial records were obtained from specimens contained in the collection belonging to Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service -Atlantic Forestry Centre, Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Collection methods
Various methods were employed to collect the species reported in this study. Details are outlined in Webster et al. (2009, Appendix). Many specimens were also collected from Lindgren 12-unit funnel trap samples. These traps mimic tree trunks and are often effective for sampling species of Coleoptera that live in microhabitats associated with standing trees (Lindgren 1983). See Webster et al. (in press) for details of the methods used to deploy the Lindgren 12-funnel traps and of sample collection. A description of the habitat was recorded for all specimens collected during this survey. Locality and habitat data are presented exactly as on labels for each record. This information, as well as additional collecting notes, is summarized and discussed in the collection and habitat data section for each species.

Specimen preparation and determination
Keys in Downie and Arnett (1996) and Majka (2010) were used to determine specimens of Eucinetidae. Klausnitzer (1976) and Epler (2010) were consulted for determining Scirtidae specimens. Specimens were compared with material in the Canadian National Collection of Insects for confirmation.

Distribution
Distribution maps, created using ArcMap and ArcGIS, are presented for each species in New Brunswick. Every species is cited with current distribution in Canada and Alaska, using abbreviations for the state, provinces, and territories. New records for New Brunswick are indicated in bold under Distribution in Canada and Alaska. The following abbreviations are used in the text: The classification of the Eucinetidae follows Young (2002a). The classification of the Scirtidae follows Young (2002b) and Bouchard et al. (2011).

Family Eucinetidae Lacordaire, 1857
The Eucinetidae (the plate-thigh beetles) have greatly expanded metathoracic coxal plates that conceal much of the first abdominal segment and the metathoracic legs. Adults live in various kinds of litter or under fungus-covered bark (Young 2002a). Larvae are mycophagous and feed on a variety of fungi (Weiss and West 1921;Wheeler and Hoebeke 1984). Campbell (1991a) reported Eucinetus haemorrhoidalis (Germar) and Nycteus testaceus (LeConte) from New Brunswick. Majka (2010) reviewed the Eucinetidae of the Maritime provinces and reported E. morio LeConte as new but questioned the validity of the N. testaceus record from New Brunswick due to lack of a supporting voucher and other published records. Here, we report two additional species, Nycteus oviformis (LeConte) and N. punctulatus (LeConte) for the province and confirm the presence of N. testaceus. Nycteus oviformis (LeConte) is newly recorded from the Maritime provinces. Collection and habitat data. This species was collected along a lake margin, and in a Carex marsh, an old red oak (Quercus rubra L.) forest, a mature red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) forest, an old red pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.) forest, a mature mixed forest, and an 8.5-year-old regenerating mixed forest. Adults were collected by treading sedges (Carex sp.) and grasses along a lake margin, sifting moss and leaf litter, and sifting sphagnum from a Carex hummock in a Carex marsh. This species was capable of jumping out of a 15 cm high sifting box. This species was also captured in Lindgren funnel traps. Adults were collected during April, May, June, and July.
Distribution in Canada and Alaska. NT, BC, AB, SK, MB, ON, QC, NB, NS, PE (Campbell 1991a;Majka 2010). This species was recorded from New Brunswick by Campbell (1991a) based on specimens collected in Kouchibouguac National Park (Kent Co.) and Tabusintac (Northumberland Co.).  VI-5.VII.2008, 12-19.VII.2008, R. P. Webster, mature hardwood forest, Lindgren funnel traps (5, AFC, RWC) ); same locality and habitat data but 28. IV-9.V.2009IV-9.V. , 9-14.V.2009IV-9.V. , 14-20.V.2009 Collection and habitat data. Eucinetus morio was found in a variety of forest types in New Brunswick, including mature hardwood forests, an old red oak forest, old and mature mixed forests, an old-growth white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) and balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) forest, eastern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis L.) forests, a mature (110-year-old) red spruce forest, and an old red pine forest. Most specimens were captured in Lindgren funnel traps deployed in the above forest types. Specimens with specific habitat data were collected from moist sphagnum (in eastern white cedar swamp), on polypore fungi on dead standing American beech (Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.) and a dead standing Populus sp., and in powdery slime mold at the base of a tree. Lawrence and Newton (1980) reported the slime mold, Stemonitis axifera (Bull.) as a host for this species, and Weiss and West (1921) reported it from a Trichia sp. (Trichiaceae). This species has an amazing jumping ability, and adults often jumped out of a 15 cm high sifting box. Adults were collected during May, June, July, and August. Collection and habitat data. Adults were captured in Lindgren funnel traps deployed in an old red oak forest and an old-growth white spruce and balsam fir forest. One individual was swept from foliage in a brushy opening of a regenerating (15-yearold) mixed forest. Adults were captured during June, July, and August.

Distribution in Canada and
Collection and habitat data. Nycteus testaceus was collected from gilled mushrooms on the forest floor of a hardwood forest, and at an ultraviolet light in a mixed forest and a hardwood forest. One individual was captured in a Lindgren funnel trap deployed in an old red oak forest. This species was capable of jumping out of a 15 cm high sifting box, resulting in the loss of a number of specimens collected from gilled mushrooms. Adults were captured during July, August, and September.
Distribution in Canada and Alaska. NT, BC, AB, SK, MB, ON, QC, NB (Campbell 1991a). Campbell (1991a) reported this species from New Brunswick. However, Majka (2010) could not find any specimens or published source to support the record and, therefore, considered the status of this species in the province as hypothetical. The above records confirm the presence of this species for New Brunswick.

Family Scirtidae Fleming, 1821
The Scirtidae (the marsh beetles), as their common name implies, are associated with marshes and other kinds of wetlands (Young 2002b). Larvae are generally aquatic and frequent stagnant and flowing waters such as forest pools, streams, rivers, various marsh types, and sphagnum bogs (Young 2002b). The North American species are badly in need of revision, especially the Genus Cyphon. Tetrault (1967), in an unpublisded Ph.D. dissertation revised the North American species of the family and described several new Cyphon species. However, since the dissertation was never published these names are not available. Later, Klausnitzer (1976) and Young and Stribling (1990) described some other North American species of Cyphon. Campbell (1991b) reported seven species of Scirtidae from New Brunswick. However, there have been no recent treatments of this family for New Brunswick or the Maritime provinces. Here, we report five species new to the province (  (Campbell 1991b).
ash (Fraxinus americana L.), an old red oak forest, an old-growth northern hardwood forest with sugar maple and yellow birch, and an old red pine forest. Adults were captured during June and July. Distribution in Canada and Alaska. ON, NB (Campbell 1991b Collection and habitat data. The sole New Brunswick specimen was sifted from moss and leaf litter in an eastern white cedar swamp during early June. Distribution in Canada and Alaska. (new Canadian record). This species is known from Massachusetts south to Florida (Young 2002a;Epler 2010).