Acylomus pugetanus Casey 1916
Creators: name: Majka, Christopher
name: Gimmel, Matthew
name: Langor, David
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2008
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Phalacridae
Acylomus
Acylomus pugetanus

description: <i>Acylomus pugetanus</i> Casey, 1916 <b>NEWFOUNDLAND: Labrador</b> (Guillebeau 1894; see note below). <b>NOVA SCOTIA: Colchester Co.:</b> Bible Hill, 19.VII.2005, A. Mills, pasture, (1, DAL); Bible Hill, 10.VI.2004, 22.VII.2004, 5.VIII.2004, 31.V.2005, K. Aikens, pasture, (4, CBU); Bible Hill, 18.VIII.2005, S.M. Townsend, pasture, (1, CBU); Truro, no date or collector information, (1, NSAC); <b>Cumberland Co.:</b> WestchesterLondonderry, 20.VII.1992, S. and J. Peck, forest road, car net, (7, JCC); <b>Guysborough Co.:</b> Trafalgar, 19.VII.1992, S. and J. Peck, car net, (15, JCC); <b>Halifax Co.:</b> Upper Tantallon, 17.VII.1992, S. and J. Peck, car net, (1, JCC); <b>Queens Co.:</b> Medway River, 13.VII.1993, J. and T. Cook, car net, (3, JCC); <b>Shelburne Co.:</b> Clyde River Rd., 16.VII.1992, J. and T. Cook, forest, car net, (7, JCC); Sebim Beach, 19.vii, 1993, J. and T. Cook, (1, JCC); <b>Yarmouth Co.:</b> Carleton, Perry Rd., 22.VIII.1992, 18.VII.1993, J. and T. Cook, car net, (2, JCC); Quinlan, Coldstream Rd., 19.VII.1993, J. and T. Cook, car net, (1, JCC). <i>Acylomus pugetanus</i> is newly recorded in Atlantic Canada (Fig. 3). In Canada it has previously been recorded from Manitoba east to Québec (Campbell 1991) and in the United States from Maine and Washington state south to Virginia, Arkansas, Utah, and Oregon (Steiner and Singh 1987). Adults and larvae of <i>A. pugetanus</i> feed on the sclerotia of ergot fungi (<i>Claviceps</i> spp., Clavicipitaceae) found growing on grains and wild grasses such as wheat (<i>Triticum aestivum</i> L.), rye (<i>Secale cereale</i> L.), quack grass (<i>Agropyron repens</i> (L.) Beauv.), meadow fescue (<i>Festuca pratensis</i> Huds.), and salt-meadow grass (<i>Spartina patens</i> (Ait.) Muhl.) (Poaceae) (Steiner and Singh 1987). Consequently they occur in open habitats where such grasses grow. In Nova Scotia many specimens have been collected in pastures. Th ere has been some interest in this species in relation to agriculture, both as a potential biocontrol agent of ergot, as well as a potential vector of the disease (Steiner and Singh 1987). The many specimens collected by car nets in Nova Scotia indicate that they fly well and actively disperses aerially. Th is species has not been recorded in New Brunswick but in all probability occurs there. Note: based on a single specimen, Guillebeau (1894) described <i>Eustilbus borealis</i>, whose type locality is “Labrador.” Matthew Gimmel has examined this specimen (MNHN) and it is an <i>Acylomus</i>, almost certainly <i>A. pugetanus</i>. Matthew Gimmel is presently working on a revision of the Phalacridae of North America, and the nomenclatural issue that this specimen raises will be addressed in the context of this larger revision.
description: Published as part of <i>Majka, Christopher, Gimmel, Matthew &amp; Langor, David, 2008, The Phalacridae (Coleoptera, Cucujoidea) of Canada: new records, distribution, and bionomics with a particular focus on the Atlantic Canadian fauna, pp. 209-220 in ZooKeys 2 (2)</i> on pages 215-216, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.2.16, http://zenodo.org/record/576403
description: {"references": ["Casey TL (1916) Phalacridae. Memoirs on the Coleoptera 7: 35 - 86.", "Guillebeau F (1894) Descriptions de quelques especes de la famille de Phalacridae de la collection de M. Antoine Grouvelle. Annales de la Societe Entomologique de France 63: 275 - 310.", "Campbell JM (1991) Family Phalacridae: Shining Flower Beetles. In Bousquet Y (Ed) Checklist of Beetles of Canada and Alaska. Agriculture Canada Publication 1861 / E: 1 - 226.", "Steiner WE, Jr, Singh BP (1987) Redescription of an ergot beetle, Acylomus pugetanus Casey, with immature stages and biology (Coleoptera: Phalacridae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 89: 744 - 758."]}