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[cite:899478

List of more than 3,500 beetle species collected in Latimer Co., OK (76 pg. PDF)

Ed Riley compiled the original version of this list during the years 2000-2002 as Karl Heinz Stephan (1931-2005) donated sections of his beetle collection to the TAMUIC in College Station, Texas.

In 2014, Mike Quinn began updating the taxa into the list's present form. Most of his changes are denoted within brackets in the notes column. The majority of the list has been proofread, but numerous spelling and taxonomic errors no doubt remain, particularly in the latter section of the list.

Some 3,516 species, including morpho-species, in 99 beetle families are listed. Due to the large number of specimens only determined to genus, the actual number of species collected is possibly significantly greater.

Riley (pers. comm., 2014) cautions that this list should be considered a "quick and dirty" list at best. Its primary purpose was to document the number of "species" and specimens donated by Karl to the TAMUIC.

Note that 'number of specimens' columns are a significant under-count of Stephan's collecting efforts in Latimer County as he collected many thousand more specimens that were provided to the Eastern Oklahoma State College, Florida State Collection of Arthropods, the Field Museum, and to the Sam Noble Museum.

Some 50 species carabids and buprestids are apparent new state records denoted by "[NSR?]" per Bousquet (2012) (1) and Nelson et al. (2008) (2) respectively. Stephan's collecting efforts were certainly responsible for numerous prior new state records. Amazingly, Stephan's Latimer Co. list exceeds (by 600 spp!) the Checklist of the Coleoptera of Oklahoma compiled by Dr. Don Arnold, Retired, Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater.

Mordellids were inexplicable left off the list compiled by TAMU, so Dr. Katrina Menard at the Sam Noble Museum provided a list of 23 mordellid taxa collected by KHS during the summer of 2002 in a flight intercept trap that were donated to the Sam Noble Museum.
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Homage to Karl Heinz Stephan (1931-2005)

"His 30 years in rural Latimer County were spent collecting, which has made this county one of the most thoroughly documented pieces of real estate in the U.S. for beetle diversity. At last count, he had recorded 3,516 species based on ~52,500 specimens that comprised one of his last donations to the Texas A&M Insect Collection." (Carlton et al. 2005)

Images of 100 beetle species from Latimer County collected by Karl Stephan.

Google Map of Latimer County indicating surrounding ecoregions

Latimer County, when compared to the rest of Oklahoma, has a higher annual precipitation (~44-50 inches), higher annual temperature (with correspondingly low annual snowfall), and the most significant changes in elevation than elsewhere in OK. Latimer Co. also has relatively low human population. These abiotic factors probably contribute to Latimer County's significant coleopteran entomofauna.

Latimer County Vascular Plant List - Per the OK Vascular Plants Database

Photographs shot in and around Latimer County, including near Stephan's former residence

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Karl's Beetle Publications:

Lawrence, J.F., and K.H. Stephan. 1975. The North American Cerylonidae (Coleoptera: Clavicornia). Psyche 82: 131–166.

Leschen, R.A.B., I. Lobl, and K.H. Stephan. 1990. Review of the Ozark Highland Scaphisoma (Coleoptera: Scaphidiidae). The Coleopterists Bulletin 44: 274–294.

Lobl, I., and K.H. Stephan. 1993. A review of the species of Baeocera Erichson (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scaphidiinae) of America north of Mexico. Revue Suisse de Zoologie 100: 675–733.

Peck, S.B., and K.H. Stephan. 1996. Revision of the genus Colon Herbst (Coleoptera; Leiodidae; Coloninae) of North America. The Canadian Entomologist 128: 667–741.

Stephan, K.H. 1968. Notes on additional distribution and ecology of Euxestus punctatus LeC. (Coleoptera: Colydiidae). The Coleopterists Bulletin 22: 19.

Stephan, K.H. 1968. Observation on Pelecotoma flavipes Melsheimer (Coleoptera: Rhipiphoridae). The Coleopterists Bulletin 22: 30.

Stephan, K.H. 1989. The Bothrideridae and Colydiidae of America north of Mexico (Coleoptera: Clavicornia and Heteromera). Occasional Papers of the Florida State Collection of Arthropods 6. xii + 65 pp. Full PDF

Stephan, K.H. 1992. Book Review. Bousquet, Y. (editor). 1991. Checklist of beetles of Canada and Alaska. Agriculture Canada Publ. 1861 vi + 430 pp. The Coleopterists Bulletin 46: 208.

Triplehorn, C.A., and K.H. Stephan. 1994. Notes on Centronopus opacus LeConte (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). The Coleopterists Bulletin 48: 148.

Related Publications:

Carlton, C.E., D.S. Chandler, R.A.B. Leschen, E.G. Riley, and P.E. Skelley. 2005. Obituary and Dedication: Karl Heinz Stephan 1931-2005. Coleopterists Bulletin 59(3): 277-283. BioOne

Chandler, D.S. 1989. The Pselaphidae (Coleoptera) of Latimer County, Oklahoma, with revisions of four genera from eastern North America. Part 1. Faroninae and Euplectinae. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 115(4): 503-529.

Mann, C.C. and M.L. Plummer. 1995. Noah's Choice: The Future of Endangered Species. Alfred Knopf, New York. 302 pp.

Palmer, M.W. 1993. Vascular plant diversity in Oklahoma. Oklahoma State University Center for Water Research, Stillwater. 30 pp. Full PDF
http://www.texasento.net/Beetles_of_Latimer_County_Oklahoma.pdf

Potential new caraboid records for Oklahoma!
Below is a subset of caraboid taxa collected by Karl Stephan over several years from Latimer Co (OK) that specifically were not given Oklahoma status in the recent catalogue by Bousquet (2012). Spelling corrections and current nomenclature are applied to Stephan's original list. Before claiming new state records for Oklahoma, we need to assess our collective confidence in the various species identifications. For example, did outside carabid experts provide any of the difficult determinations among the Loxandrus specimens? I do not know if Karl Stephan had special expertise in ground beetle identification. All or most of the easier identifications will likely turn out to be new state records. Note that the original inventory cites "240 unidentified Carabidae" - a number which may or may not include the several instances of unidentified species that were assigned to various genera. All specimens were deposited at TAMUIC. This early analysis (with some comments in parentheses below) is by Peter W. Messer 3/31/2014. Feedback is welcome.

Agonum aeruginosum 5
Amara angustata 10
Amerinus linearis no #
Anisodactylus harrisi 13
Apristus subsulcatus 29
Ardistomis puncticollis 10
Badister flavipes 2
B. pulchellus 1
Bembidion honestum 14
Brachinus cordicollis 7
Carabus limbatus 13
Chlaenius pennsylvanicus 2
Clivina pallida 1
Cyclotrechelus nonnitens 13
C. sodalis colossus 10
Dromius piceus 15
Dyschirius truncatus 15
Elaphrus californicus 10
Galerita lecontei 9
Harpalus opacipennis 2
H. rufipes 2
Helluomorphoides prauestus praeustus 12
Lebia abdominalis 1
L. collaris 3
L. fuscata 13
L. pleuritica 1
Leptotrachelus dorsalis 13
Loxandrus cincinnati 1
L. duryi 9
L. erraticus 2
L. nitidulus 1
L. parallelus 3
L. rectus 3
L. robustus 1
L. saphyrinus 1
L. velocipes 1
Oodes americanus 14
Oxycrepis sp. 1 (If true, likely Stolonis intercepta)
Tachys (Paratachys) rhodeanus 13
Plochionus timidus 16
Scarites quadriceps 8 (likely before revision by Bousquet & Skelly 2010)
Schizogenius planulatus 1
Sericoda obsoleta 5
Stenolophus humidus 18
Tachyta angulata 20

 
Update 4/5/2014: Accepted new caraboid records for Oklahoma.
Below is a revised subset of caraboid taxa collected by Karl Stephan for 30 years from Latimer Co. (eastern OK) that specifically were not given Oklahoma status by Bousquet (2012) in his recent catalogue (1). Spelling corrections and current nomenclature are applied to Stephan's original list. I thank Mike Quinn for catching several errors that had crept into my original list posted above. At this time my arbitrary criteria for accepting a new record is whether that species was recorded in a state adjacent to OK, including near corner LA. Names in bold print have known ranges significantly farther from OK and therefore they are tentatively not added to the registry/forum for new caraboid records (2). I welcome opinions and corrections for a future update.

Agonum aeruginosum 5
Amara angustata 10
Amerinus linearis 1
Anisodactylus harrisii 13
Apristus subsulcatus 29
Badister flavipes 2
B. pulchellus 1
Bembidion honestum 14
Brachinus cordicollis 7
Chlaenius pennsylvanicus 2
Clivina pallida 1
Cyclotrachelus nonnitens 13
C. sodalis colossus 10
Dromius piceus 15
Dyschirius truncatus 15
Elaphrus californicus 10
Galerita lecontei 9
Harpalus opacipennis 2
H. rufipes 2
Helluomorphoides praeustus praeustus 12
Lebia abdominalis 1
L. collaris 3
L. fuscata 13
L. pleuritica 1
Leptotrachelus dorsalis 13
Loxandrus cincinnati 1
L. duryi 9
L. erraticus 2
L. nitidulus 1
L. parallelus 3
L. rectus 3
L. robustus 1
L. saphyrinus 1
L. velocipes 1
Oodes americanus 14
Oxycrepis sp. 1 (If true, likely Stolonis intercepta)
Tachys (Paratachys) rhodeanus 13
Plochionus timidus 16
Scarites quadriceps 8 (? confusion over similar S. lissopterus which does have OK status)
Schizogenius planulatus 1
Sericoda obsoleta 5
Stenolophus humidus 18
Tachyta angulata 20

 
strike Stenolophus humidus
i can't remember what exactly Stephan ID'd as such (might well be ochropezus) but a few weeks ago i went thru TAMUIC stenolophine holdings and moved dozens of misID'd specimens out of the trays.
the S. humidus tray is now empty, and so are a few more trays in that subtribe.
some of those trays contained a reasonably large series from Stephan's collection, up to a dozen or more specimens, of which none actually belonged where they've been sitting.
it looks like at some point in mid-1980s Stephan sent his carabids to experts for identification, because older specimens bear id labels, mostly Ball's, followed by many specimens collected after the year shown on the id label.
the specimens added later bear no id labels and i suspect that Stephan was adding those casually, so on quite a few occasions members of multiple [sub]genera ended up under the same species name in the tray.
i wasn't paying special attention to OK material and was busy sorting out the unsorted stuff and correcting errors along the way the best i could, but in any case the list above is to be taken very cautiosly --ideally, every id confirmed from specimens.
i wish i knew about this discussion a year ago, when i started messing with TAMUIC carabis holdings -- i could easily confirm several records along the way, perhaps 20-25.
again, specimens w/o id labels make it hard to track these records down...
(another reason why, as a matter of policy, i put a det label on every single specimen i identify, no matter how big the series; it's the only way to own my own crap)

 
Stenolophus humidus now acknowledged to be off OK list.
Thanks V.Belov for this contribution. Please continue to scrutinize OK material held in TAMUIC. I see you were aware of this discussion since your comment below dated 31 March 2014.

 
this is downright humbling.
thanks, Peter

 
carabid records
Matt Gimmel was working on a checklist of OK carabids off and on for a few years, so he might have some insights. I will alert him.

 
Current complete caraboid checklist for OK ---
I presume you got the complete OK check list that I generated from the catalogue by Bousquet (2012) and recently sent to Mike's circle which included your name. You may pass it on to interested parties. The current checklist does not yet include Stephan's contributions.

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