[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