Fauna of New Zealand Number 59 Erotylinae (Insecta : Coleoptera : Cucujoidea : Erotylidae) : taxonomy and biogeography

Paul Skelly and Rich Leschen

Erotylinae are also known commonly as the ‘pleasing fungus beetles’ for their often striking colours, though these do not occur in New Zealand species. The 8 New Zealand erotyline species comprise a relatively small group, considering that nearby Australia has 50 species.

Erotylinae are represented in New Zealand by two genera, one of which is endemic. Various authors have described erotyline species, or created lists for them, but none has attempted to evaluate these taxa and update their taxonomy.

In Fauna of New Zealand 47, Rich Leschen restructured the family Erotylidae to include the family Languriidae, and examined the status of the higher taxa based on a cladistic analysis of adult characters. He also reviewed the New Zealand species that would have been included in the former family Languriidae. The purpose of this paper is to complement Leschen’s review of New Zealand’s Erotylidae by covering the species of subfamily Erotylinae.

In this Fauna, the fungus-feeding Erotylinae fauna of New Zealand are revised and a key to the adults and illustrations of key characters for all species are presented.

Contributor Paul Skelley was born and raised in Illinois, USA. For his masters thesis at University of Florida he studied the Erotylidae of Florida, and his PhD dissertation was a revision of the genus Ischyrus Lacordaire north of Panama. While working on his PhD he took up a position in the Florida State Collection of Arthropods where he still works. His interests in beetles have focused on the Erotylidae, Aphodiinae (Scarabaeidae), and beetle natural histories in the south-eastern United States.

Contributor Rich Leschen was born in Arkansas, USA and raised in St Louis. He completed a Masters on fungus-feeding Coleoptera of Arkansas at the University of Arkansas and studied the systematics of Cryptophagidae at the University of Kansas. A curatorial assistant position at the Snow Entomological Museum gave him a broad training in the identification and systematics of world Coleoptera. Since joining Landcare Research he has maintained an interest in Coleoptera systematics. Paul and Rich met by correspondence during their Masters studies and over the years they have collaborated on several projects on Erotylidae.

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Author: Paul Skelly and Rich Leschen
ISBN: 978-0-47-809391-9
Publisher: Manaaki Whenua Press
Publication date: 2007
Pages: 60
Format: Paperback