Florida Wrinkled Bark Beetles
(Coleoptera: Carabidae: Rhysodini)

© P. M. Choate, 2004

Omoglymmius americanus (Laporte) - Rhysodini. photo P. M. Choate
Fig. 1. Omoglymmius americanus (Laporte) Gainesville, FL. - line = 4mm.  photo P. M. Choate
 Clinidium sp., Florida, Torreya St. Park. photo P. M. Choate
Fig. 2. Clinidium sp.
Torreya St. Park, Liberty Co., Florida.
photo P. M. Choate

Taxonomic notes: These beetles are treated as a separate family Rhysodidae or a tribe of Carabidae, Rhysodini. Current trends point to the latter, and a comprehensive treatment of this tribe may be found at the Tree of Life Web Project site. Two genera and 3 species of Rhysodini have been reported from Florida (Peck and Thomas 1998), Omoglymmius Ganglbauer (1 spp) and Clinidium Kirby (2 spp.).

Key to genera of Florida Rhysodini
    - Elytral striae indistinctly sulcate, strongly punctate; pronotum with paramedian grooves long, reaching nearly to apical margin (Fig. 1) ....Omoglymmius
     
    - Elytral striae strongly sulcate, indistinctly punctate; pronotum with paramedian grooves restricted to basal half (Fig. 2).....Clinidium
     
    Note: Given the possibility of new records for Clinidium one should use Bell & Bell 1975 species key to U. S. Clinidium for any specimens collected in Florida.
Checklist of Florida Rhysodini (from Peck and Thomas 1998)

    Omoglymmius americanus (Laporte)
    Clinidium baldufi Bell
    Clinidium sculptile (Newman)

Collecting notes: Omoglymmius specimens have been collected locally in oak logs along creek banks, and a single specimen was collected when it landed on the side of a house during the daytime. Months of collections in Alachua Co. have been January and March. These insects are hard to find, and many logs may be searched before specimens are found. The logs that I have found holding these insects here have been fairly firm, oak logs, located in moist habitats. Curiously, logs that held Omoglymmius also held larvae of Zenoa picea Beauvois (Coleoptera: Callirhipidae). Thus far Clinidium species have only been found in northeast Florida (Duval Co.) and the panhandle (Liberty Co.). The spotty distribution records for these species may reflect the difficulty of collecting and not actual geographical locations.

Selected References
  • Bell, R. T. 1970. The Rhysodini of North America, Central America and the West Indies. Miscellaneous Publications of the Entomological Society of America 6: 289-324.
  • Bell, R. T. 1973. New species of Clinidium from Guatemala (Coleoptera, Carabidae or Rhysodidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 75(3): 279-282.
  • Bell, R. T. 1975. Omoglymmius Ganglbauer, a separate genus (Coleoptera: Carabidae or Rhysodidae). The Coleopterists Bulletin 29(4):351-352.
  • Bell, R. T. 1979. Zoogeography of Rhysodini: Do beetles travel on driftwood? Pages 331-342 in Carabid Beetles: Their Evolution, Natural History and Classification (T. L. Erwin, G. E. Ball, and D. R. Whitehead, eds.). Proceedings of the First International Symposium of Carabidology. Smithsonoan Institution, Wahsington, D.C.
  • Bell, R. T. 1985. Zoogeography and ecology of New Guinea Rhysodini (Coleoptera: Carabidae). Pages 221-235 in Taxonomy, Phylogeny and Zoogeography of Beetles and Ants (G. E. Ball, ed.). Dr. W. Junk Publishers, Dordrecht.
  • Bell, R. T. 1985. Family: Rhysodidae. A Catalog of the Coleoptera of America North of Mexico. United States Department of Agriculture. Agriculture Handbook Number 529-4:1-4.
  • Bell, R. T. 1991. Rhysodidae (Adephaga). Pages 304-305 in Immature Insects Volume 2 (F. W. Stehr, ed.). Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, Dubuque, Iowa.
  • Bell, R. T. 1994. Beetles that cannot bite: functional morphology of the head of adult Rhysodines (Coleoptera: Carabidae or Rhysodidae). The Canadian Entomologist 126:667-672.
  • Bell, R. T. 1998. Where do the Rhysodini (Coleoptera) belong? Pages 261-272 in Phylogeny and Classification of Caraboidea. XX I.C.E. (1996, Firenze, Italy) (G. E. Ball, A. Casale, and A. Vigna Taglianti, eds.). Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali, Torino.
  • Bell, R. T. and J. R. Bell. 1962. The taxonomic position of the Rhysodidae. The Coleopterists Bulletin 15:99-106.
  • Bell, R. T. and J. R. Bell. 1975. Two new taxa of Clinidium (Coleoptera: Rhysodidae or Carabidae) from the Eastern U.S., with a revised key to U.S. Clinidium. The Coleopterists Bulletin 29(2):65-68.
  • Bell, R. T. and J. R. Bell. 1978. Rhysodini of the World part I. A new classification of the tribe, and a synopsis of Omoglymmius subgenus Nitiglymmius, new subgenus (Coleoptera: Carabidae or Rhysodidae). Quaestiones Entomologicae 14: 43-88.
  • Bell, R. T. and J. R. Bell. 1979. Rhysodini of the World part II. Revisions of the smaller genera (Coleoptera: Carabidae or Rhysodidae). Quaestiones Entomologicae 15: 377-446.
  • Bell, R. T. and J. R. Bell. 1982. Rhysodini of the World Part III. Revision of Omoglymmius Ganglbauer (Coleoptera: Carabidae or Rhysodidae) and substitutions for preoccupied generic names. Quaestiones Entomologicae 18: 127-259.
  • Bell, R. T. and J. R. Bell. 1985. Rhysodini of the World Part IV. Revisions of Rhyzodiastes and Clinidium, with new species in other genera (Coleoptera: Carabidae or Rhysodidae). Quaestiones Entomologicae 21(1): 1-172.
  • Bell, R. T. and J. R. Bell. 1987. A new species of Clinidium Kirby (Coleoptera: Carabidae or Rhysodidae) from Mexico, and descriptions of the females of two Neotropical members of the genus. Annals Of The Carnegie Museum 56(8-14): 193-196.
  • Bell, R. T. and J. R. Bell. 1987. A new subtribe, genus and species of Rhysodini from South Africa (Coleoptera: Carabidae or Rhysodidae). Journal Of The Entomological Society Of Southern Africa 50(2): 287-290.
  • Bell, R. T. and J. R. Bell. 1987. Rhysodine beetles on the Geneva collection: a new species of Yamatosa, and a major range extension for Omoglymmius sakuraii Nakane (Coleoptera: Carabidae or Rhysodidae). Revue suisse Zool. 94(4):683-686.
  • Bell, R. T. and J. R. Bell. 1988. Rhysodini of Sulawesi (Indonesia) and nearby islands (Coleoptera: Carabidae or Rhysodidae). Journal Of The New York Entomological Society 96(1): 7-15.
  • Bell, R. T. and J. R. Bell. 1989. Rhysodine beetles on the Geneva collection II: new species of Yamatosa and Omoglymmius, descriptions of undescribed sexes in other species, and some major range extensions (Coleoptera: Carabidae or Rhysodidae). Revue suisse Zool. 96(3):637-642.
  • Bell, R. T. and J. R. Bell. 1991. The Rhysodini of Australia (Insecta: Coleoptera: Carabidae or Rhysodidae). Annals Of The Carnegie Museum 60(3): 179-210.
  • Bell, R. T. and J. R. Bell. 1993. Rhysodine beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera: Carabidae or Rhysodidae): New species, new data, and revised keys to Omoglymmius (Subgenera Omoglymmius and Pyxiglimmius). Annals of Carnegie Museum 62(2): 165-185 .
  • Bell, R. T. and J. R. Bell. 1995. The Rhysodini (Insecta: Coleoptera: Carabidae) of Cuba. Annals of Carnegie Museum 64(3): 185-195.
  • Beutel, R. G. 1990. Metathoracic features of Omoglymmius hamatus and their significance for classification of Rhysodini (Coleoptera: Adephaga). Entomologia Generalis 15(3): 185-201.
  • Beutel, R. G. 1992. Larval head structures of Omoglymmius hamatus and their implications for the relationships of Rhysodidae (Coleoptera: Adephaga). Entomologica Scandinavica 23(2): 169-184.
  • Bousquet, Y. and A. Larochelle. 1993. Catalogue of the Geadephaga (Coleoptera: Trachypachidae, Rhysodidae, Carabidae including Cicindelini) of America north of Mexico. Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada 167:3-334.
  • Burakowski, B. 1975. Description of larva and pupa of Rhysodes sulcatus (F.) (Coleoptera, Rhysodidae) and notes on the bionomics of this species. Annales Zoologici 32(12)271-287.
  • Choate, P. M. 1990. Checklist of the ground beetles of Florida (Coleoptera: Carabidae) Literature Records. Florida Entomol. 73: 476-492.
  • Costa, C., S. A. Vanin, and S. A. Casari-Chen. 1988. Larvas de Coleoptera do Brasil. 269 pp. Sao Paolo.
  • Emberson, R. M. 1995. A new species of Kaveinga (Coleoptera: Rhysodidae) and lectotype designations for four species of rhysodids described by Thomas Broun (1880). New Zealand Entomologist 18(0):9-14.
  • Grandi, G. 1972. Comparative morphology and ethology of insects with a specialized diet, Rhysodes germari Ganglb. Bolletino dell''Istituto di Entomologia dell'' Università di Bologna 30:21-47.
  • Hovorka, 0. 1997. New Clinidium species from Ecuador (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Rhysodini). Acta Societatis Zoologicae Bohemicae 61(1):19-22.
  • Peck, S. B. and M. C. Thomas. 1998. A distributional checklist of the beetles (Coleoptera) of Florida. Arthropods of Florida and neighboring land areas. Vol. 16. Entomology contribution no. 862. 180p. Florida Dept. Agriculture and consumer services. Division of Plant Industry. Gainesville, Fl.
  • Yahiro, K. 1996. Comparative morphology of the alimentary canal and reproductive organs of the terrestrial Caraboidea (Coleoptera: Adephaga) Part 1. Japanese Journal of Entomology 64(3):536-550.