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Photo#38317
2.4mm short elytra - Brachypterolus pulicarius

2.4mm short elytra - Brachypterolus pulicarius
New Hampshire, USA
Size: 2.4 mm
Died before I could shoot it. Has been in alcohol for a year or more probably. Collected in south-central New Hampshire.

Images of this individual: tag all
2.4mm short elytra - Brachypterolus pulicarius 2.4mm short elytra - Brachypterolus pulicarius

Andy Cline says:
This is Brachypterolus pulicarius (L.), a Kateretidae (= Brachypteridae). It's widespread in the NE and also found in the Palearctic.

I just found a reasonable likeness of this specimen on the Russian Web site www.zin.ru

 
Very good
Ironically I included a paper on this sp. under the info tab for Kateretidae some time ago and completely forgot about it. Additionally this genus used to be in the Nitidulidae! as Donald Chandler recognized. See here and here.

Introduced species.

 
Amazing stuff!
According to Joyce Gross, one of our better photographer/contributors, Andy Cline studies this group in addition to Nitidulidae, so he was obviously the right person to ask.

Checking the mtwow.com site that comes up in the google image search, I was fascinated to read about this species that "They over winter in the pupil stage," just like I did from first grade through college ;-)

 
Brachypterus urticae also in NH
According to your NH list, you also have the somewhat similar looking Brachypterus urticae.

 
Now that I know
I'll keep my eyes peeled.

Rove Beetle
Now that so many of the older families are rolled into the Staphs - you can almost place anything with abbreviated elytra there. I'm guessing this is a Scaphidiinae.

 
Nitidulidae: Meligethes nigrescens?
I believe this a member of Meligethes, with M. nigrescens being the only member of this group that I have seen in New Hampshire. Note the strongly clubbed antennae, which staphs do not have, and nitidulids do.

 
??
The antenna don't look strongly clubbed [enlarged, yes - which many Staphs, as currently defined do have] to me and the short elytra bothers me. IDs from photos can be tough.
Meligethes sp.

Another possible Rove Beetle group -Proteinus sp.

 
Proteinus has moderate clubs but
in none of those Web images you linked did I see such pronotal width. In this example, the pronotum is the widest part of the body. Interesting crenulated skirt the thing is wearing. Let me see if I can rope in Margaret Thayer, a staph specialist, to have a look as well.

 
good idea
Without the speciman to key out - you almost have to just recognize it. Yours almost looks like Microsilpha from New Zealand.

 
totally agree
hey ur totally right.....

Reema
New Zealand

 
As a former newspaper asst. editor,
I feel compelled to point out the Webster's spells it specimen whereas I think you regluarly spell it speciman. I only point that out here because I see no other place to do so.

 
thanks
Old habits die hard - and no spell check on bugguide!

 
I wondered about those antennal clubs.
Hardly looks like a nit though. We have a couple specialists on the family. Maybe they can say for certain what the species is. I'll E-mail the pix to them.

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