Ptinella simsoni
From Species-ID
Ordo: Coleoptera
Familia: Ptiliidae
Name
- Ptinella simsoni Johnson, 1982 Wikispecies link
Introduction
- Ptinella simsoni is a species of ptiliid described from Tasmania (Australia), but also found in New Zealand, and it is adventive in England. It was first reported in N.Z. by Johnson (1982: 364), based on a single specimen from Invercargill in 1911. There have been no further published specimen records from New Zealand. It is easily recognised by the pair of shallow impressions on the pronotum, and in the male sex by the distinctive modification of the last tergite (see fig. 1)
Notes
- I have identified 4 specimens from litter samples at 3 sites in the Waikato (WO) region of the North Island of New Zealand (see fig. 1), and 6 specimens from 1 site in the South Island (BR), all collected by R.K. Didham, which confirms its presence in N.Z.
- it is unclear if it is native or adventive in N.Z.
- I have not had the opportunity to search through unsorted ptiliids in collections for this species
- this species is easily and reliably identifiable on external morphology alone
References
- Johnson, C. 1982: An introduction to the Ptiliidae (Coleoptera) of New Zealand. New Zealand journal of zoology, 9: 333-376. BUGZ Google books
Stephen Thorpe 02:09, 20 January 2011 (CET)
