Cryptophilus angustus

It was about 2-3 mm long.

Habitat: Attracted to a light in a semi-rural area.

comments (5)

Claude CHAVAND

Lion

Bonjour,
I agree with you for the family, it is Cryptophagidae.
For the genus it is another business, I've checked the possibilities among those found in North America.
To me, it could be Antherophagus (4 possible species, see https://biologicalsurvey.ca/ejournal/ph_40/taxonomy.html) but this is highly uncertain... Posted 5 years ago
1. Christine Young
  
  Lion
  
  Merci Claude, your comment is much appreciated! I will add that genus as a possibility to the description above. Posted 5 years ago
2. Pudding4brains
  
  Lion
  
  Just a quick note :o) After studying some recent publications in order to ID a similar beetle from Germany, I would suggest that this would most likely be Cryptophilus angustus (Erotylidae). Historically these have always been confused with Cryptophagidae and I was looking in that direction too at first, so no foul there ;o)
  All databases for the Nearctic will still have this as Cryptophilus integer (I've contacted V Belov who edited the page on Cryptophilus on BugGuide to update this).
  
  After discussing with Arved Lompe of coleonet.de, Jens Esser concluded that the Palearctic "C. integer" was harbouring two different species. So he went ahead to check the type of C. integer to see which one of the two should continue to carry the name integer. Turns out that the type of C. integer was not a Cryptophilus at all, but rather conspecific with Micrambe abietis, with abietis being the older name of the two. So C. integer is sunk into synonymy with that.
  
  Now he needed two new names for the two beetles hiding in what had previously be addressed as C. integer. He deduced that these should be called C. propinquus and C. simplex. A year later he had a chance to study the type of Typhaea angusta and concluded that this was the same species as C. simplex. With T. angusta being the older name and taking precendence, so the "integer" counterpart of C. propinquus is now Cryptophilus angustus.
  
  In 2017 he studied the type material of some species of Cryptophilus from the Nearctic and concluded that the species you have over there are basically the same as ours.
  
  There is some individual variability and Jens advises to preferably check the genitalia, but the the shape of the pronotum is mostly quite diagnostic enough, making yours a candidate for C. angustus (most likely).
  My beetle, IMHO, would be C. propinquus but I want to try and take better pictures of it still, so I'll be uploading that a tad later ;o)
  Cheers, Arp
  c.f.:
  Esser, J. (2016) Über die Identität von Cryptophilus integer (Heer, 1841) (Coleoptera: Erotylidae). – Entomologische Nachrichten und Berichte 60(3/4), pp.213-218. (PDF)
  https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jens_Esser2/publication/313023199
  
  Esser, J. (2017) On the Nearctic Cryptophilus Reitter, 1874 (Coleoptera: Erotylidae). – Linzer biologische Beiträge 49(2), pp.1133-1137. (PDF)
  https://www.zobodat.at/pdf/LBB_0049_2_1133-1137.pdf
  
  Esser, J. (2017) Was ist Typhaea angusta Rosenhauer 1856 (Coleoptera)? - Entomologische Nachrichten und Berichte, vol. 61(3/4), pp.177-179. Posted 5 years ago, modified 5 years ago
3. 1. Pudding4brains
    
    Lion
    
    I've copy/pasted the description I made for C. propinquus to also create a description for C. angustus and taken the liberty to ID your image as such ...
    
    For comparison, here is my 3Cryptophilus propinquus
    
    Posted 5 years ago, modified 5 years ago
  2. 1. Christine Young
      
      Lion
      
      Wow. You are pretty awesome, Arp. Thanks so much for the information and ID! I really appreciate it so much. I was lost on this one. Posted 5 years ago