Scaphisomatini of Arizona (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scaphidiinae) collected by V-Flight Intercept Traps

Abstract

Arizona is a biogeographically very heterogenous area, consisting of deserts, high mountains, and riverine habitats. The ranges of some Neotropical biota have their northern edges in a narrow band mostly within about 100 km north of the state's southern border. Though relatively intensively collected, complete knowledge of the Arizona beetle fauna is lacking, and most groups are poorly documented. Thus, the catalogues of Leng (1920) with the subsequent supplements (Leng & Mutchler, 1927; Blackwelder, 1939) remain sources of information for many groups, however outdated these catalogues may be. This is true also for the rove beetle subfamily Scaphidiinae Latreille, 1806, which is only partly revised for North America (Newton et al., 2001). While several modern authors significantly contributed to the knowledge of the biology, associated hosts, and larvae of scaphidiines (Ashe, 1984; Hanley, 1996; Lawrence & Newton, 1980; Leschen, 1988, 1994; Leschen et al., 1990; Newton, 1984, 1991; Stephenson et al., 1994), modern taxonomic work on species occurring north of Mexico is limited to the description of Scaphisoma americanum (Löbl, 1987), the review of the Scaphisoma of the Ozark Highland (Leschen et al., 1990), and revision of Baeocera Erichson, 1845 (as Eubaeocera new genus in Cornell, 1967, as Sciatrophes Blackburn, 1903 in Löbl, 1976; Löbl & Stephan, 1993). Of these, the three papers on Baeocera provided information on species occurring in Arizona.