Distribution and biology of the ectoparasitic beaver beetle Platypsyllus castoris Ritsema in North America (Coleoptera: Leiodidae: Platypsyllinae)

The distribution and biology of the beaver beetle, Platypsyllus castoris Ritsema, are summarized for North America. In light of the fact that the beetle uses two beaver species as hosts which have seemingly been separated for some five million years on two continents, it is asked if the Nearctic and Palearctic beetle populations are really the same species. 86 Volume 20, No. 1-2, March-June, 2006, INSECTA MUNDI and combined both into the subfamily Leptininae of the Silphidae. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the widely scattered geographic records and literature on the distribution and biology of the beaver beetle, Platypsyllus castoris Ritsema, in North America. Methods and Materials Primary literature, species lists and catalogs were searched and are referenced. Acronyms for museums containing specimens are those of Arnett et al. (1997) and are as follows: AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, USA; BDMU, Biology Department, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; CASC, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California, USA; CDAE, Department of Food and Agriculture, Sacramento, California, USA; CMNC, Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; CMNH, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; CNCI, Canadian National Collection of Insects, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; CUIC; Cornell University Insect Collection, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA; DEBU, Department Environmental Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada; EMEC, Essig Museum, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA; FMNH, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois, USA;FSCA, Florida State Collection of Arthropods, Gainesville, Florida, USA; INHS, Illinois Natural History Survey, Urbana, Illinois, USA; ISUI, Entomology Collection, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, USA;MCZC, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA; MHNG, Natural History Museum, Geneva, Switzerland; NDSU, Entomology Department Collection, North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota, USA; OSEC, Emerson Museum, Department Entomology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA; OSUC, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA; OSUO, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, USA; PSUC, Frost Museum, Department Entomology, Pennsylvania State University, College Park, Pennsylvania, USA; RMNH; Nationaal Naturhistorische Museum, Leiden, Netherlands; SBPC, Stewart B. Peck collection, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; SMDV, Spencer Entomological Museum, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; SMNH, Saskatchewan Museum Natural History, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada; TAMU, Texas A & M University, College Station, Texas, USA; UCDC, University of California, Davis, California, USA; UCRC, University of California, Riverside, California, USA; UMRM, Enns Entomology Museum, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA; UMSP, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA; UNSM, University of Nebraska State Museum, Nebraska Hall, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; USAM, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; USNM, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA; WFBM, Barr Entomological Collection, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, USA; WSUC, James Entomology Collection, Department of Entomology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA.