INSECTS OF MICRONESIAColeoptera: Endomychidae'

By H. F. STROHECKERPROFESSOR OF Z OOLOGY, U NIVER SITY OF MIAMI

Much of the material here reported has been collected under the auspicesof the United States Office of Naval Research. Other specimens have comefrom Chicago Natural History Museum , Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Cali-fornia Academy of Sciences, and Kyu shu Univer sity. Profes sor Teiso Esakihas supplied me with an English translation of his report in Mushi (13: 114).

The United States Office of Naval Research, the Pacific Science Board( National Research Council) , the National Science Foundation , and BishopMuseum have made this surv ey and the publication of the results possible.Field research was aided by a contra ct between the Office of Naval Research ,Department of the Navy, and the National Academy of Sciences, NR 160-175.

The following symbols indicate the instituti ons in which specimens arestored : US (United States ational Mu seum ) , BISHOP (Bish op Museum),and CM (Chicago Natural Hi story Museum) .

While the greate st development of the family Endom ychidae is found insoutheastern Asia and its large continental island s, the eastward spread of thegroup has been slight. Even the large area s of Australia and New Guinea havefew species and the Philippine fauna is poor compared to that of Borneo. Onlytwo species of endomychids are known from Micronesia-c-one widespread andthe second described here for the first time and apparently endemic.

KEY TO SUBFAMILIES OF MICRONESIAN ENDOMYCHIDAE

1. Tarsi four-se gmented ; antenna stout , four- or five-segmented TrochoideinaeTarsi pseud otrirner ous ; antenna ll-segment ed h __ Stenotarsinae

TROCHOIDEIN AE

Genus Trochoideus We stwood

Trochoideus We stwood, 1833, Linn. Soc. London , Trans. 16: 673 (type :Paussus cruciatus Dalman) ; 1838, Ent. Soc. London, Trans. 1838: 95.-Ger staeck er , 1858, Mono gr. Endom. , 381.-Chapuis , 1876, Gen. Coleopt.

1 This re pr esent s, in part , Re sult s of Pr of essor T . E saki 's Micr onesian Ex ped it ions (1 936·1940 ) ,N o. 94.

106 In sects of Micronesi a-i-Voi . 16, No.2, 1958

12: 147.- Arrow , 1925, Fauna of Ind ia, Er otyl., 402.- Stroh ecker, 1953,Genera In sectorum 210 : 39.

Ps eudopa ussus Schulze, 1916, Philippine Jour . Sci. 11: 292.The taxonomy of the genus is not satisfactory at present . Apparently four

or five species occur in the Old World tr opics and two or thr ee in SouthAmerica.

1. Trochoideus desjardinsi Ouerin-Meneville (fig. 1).Trocho ideus desjardinsi Cuerin-Me neville, 1838, Rev. Zoo1., 22.- Ger-

staecker, 1858, Monogr. End om., 385.- Arr ow, 1925, Fauna of India ,Erot yl., 402.-E saki, 1941, Mushi 13 : I 14.-Swez ey, 1942, B. P . BishopMus., Bull. 172 : 158.

Ps eudopcuss us m onstrosus Schulze, 1916, Philip pine Jour. Sci. 11: 292.

b

FI GURE l.-T rochoideus dcsjordinsi : a, mal e ; b, ant enna of female.

The short, swollen antennae of this easily recognized insect are probablyan adaptation to life with ants and termi tes. Although the synonymy is lengthy(Arr ow, 1925, Fauna of India, Erot yl., 402) , the two Micronesian records arecorrect . Esaki report s it as living in the nests of the ants P aratrechina longi-cornis (Latr eille) and An oplolepis longipes (Jerdon) .

DISTRIBUTION: Eas tern Africa and Madagascar to Samoa and thePhilippine Is . ; Bonin , Mariana, and Caroline I s.

Wittmer, Ford, ChUjo, Stroh ecker-Coleoptera 10 7

BONIN . CHICHI JIMA: Omura, June , July 1949, Mead ; Tsurihama, June1949, Mead. HAHA J IMA: June 1949, Mead.

S. MARIA NA IS. SAIPAN: Oct . 1927 ; Donni-Sadog, May 1940, Yasu-matsu and Yoshimur a; Talafofo , Oct . 1941, Matu sita, Jan . 1945, E . Hagen,June 1951, R. Bohart. ROTA: Sonson-Taipingot, Nov. 1937, Esaki; SonsonIsthmu s, Oct . 1945, Necker . GUAM: Fadang , Pt. Oca, Com. Mar. Hill , Mt .Santa Rosa, Agana, Sinajana , Talofofo , Mt . Alifan, Pilgo River , Dededo ,Agat, Barrigada , Mt. Tenjo, Yigo , and Yona (March-October), collected byBryan, Swezey, U singer, Bohart, Gressitt , Dybas, Wallace, Maehler, Krauss,and Fullaway.

PALAU. BABELTHUAP:Ngiwal, Nov . 1951, Gressitt. KOROR:Nov. 1947,Dybas.

YAP. R UMUNG: Eastern part , July-Aug. 1950, Goss. GAGIL-ToMIL:Tomil District, July-Aug. 1950, Goss. •

CAROLINE AT OLL S. FASSARAI:Oct . 1952, Krauss .TRUK. Apr. 1940, Yasumat su and Yoshimura.KUSAIE . "H ill 541," 165 m., Feb. 1953, Clarke.The range of T. desjardins i is appr oximately coexten sive with the Old

World distribution of the coconut palm, but no definite relation with the plantis known. Beside the record s of myrmecophil y cited, it has been collected inrotten stem of banana ( Swezey), in rotten papaya (Bohart and Gressitt), indead rachis of Anqi opteris ( Swezey) , in dead leaves, in dead wood, and underbark (Bryan, Swezey, Us inger , Mead, Clarke).

STEN OTA R SI NAE

Genus Stenotarsus Perty

St enotarsus Perty , 1832, Delect . Animal. Art ., 112 (monotype: S. breuicollis ,Perty).-G erstaecker, 1858, Monogr. Endom., 298.-Arrow, 1925, Fauna .of India, Erotyl., 370.-Strohecker, 1953, Genera Insectorum 210: 49.Pronotum with br oad, raised margins, prost ernum prolonged behind front coxae, its

apex spatulate, mesosternum quadrat e, excavated to receive the prosternal process, tarsiwith penultimate segment minute, thus appearing three -segmented, the second segmentlobed and pubescent beneath.

This genus is widely distributed over the warm regions of the world andincludes many species of superficially different appearance but fundamentallysimilar structure.

2. Stenotarsus politus Strohecker, n . sp. (fig . 2).Ovoid in form , almost equally narro wed at each end. Th orax with side marg ins broad

and flat, disc strong ly convex, base sinuate with hind angles rectangular. Elytra sub-parallel , thr ee times as long as pronotum . E ntire upper surface strongly shining, pron otumfinely punctur ed, elytra coarse ly and sparsely punctur ed with a short bri stle in each punc-ture . Pr onotum black with red margin s, elytra browni sh-red with a lar ge black ar eanarrowed externally. Antennae ferruginou s except for segments 8-10, which are black. The

108 Ins ects of M icronesia- Vol. 16, No . 2, 1958

series pre sents considerable variation in coloration, probably due to the teneral state ofsome of the specimens. Ground color varies from pale yellow to deep browni sh-red , whiledark ar ea of elyt ron may be only a smal1 dusky spot or may cover most of elyt ron. Noexternal sexual difference s. Length 2.5 mm., breadth 1.4 mm.

FIG URE 2.-St enotarSltspolitus.

Holotyp e, male (U S 63445), Palau , Koror, Limestone Ridge south ofinlet , Jan. 22, 1948, beating vegetation, H . S . Dybas ; parat ypes (e M,BISHOP , author's colI.) ; two specimens with data of holotype ; two speci-mens collected on Jan. 21 ; eight on Jan. 17 (other data as for holotype) ; onespecimen collected by Dybas on Uleb sehel (A urapushekaru ), Palau , Jan. 13,1948.

DISTRIBUTION: W estern Caroline Is. (Pal au ).In the great convexity of the pronot al disc, shining surface, and sparsely

punctured and setose elytra, this species is most similar to S. flavoscapularisStrohecker of the Philippin es. It is, however, more elongate and of differentcoloration.

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