Ernobius schedli Brown

Ernobius schedli - lateral habitus.

Introduction and Bionomics

There are thirty species of the genus Ernobius known from North America. They are generally distributed and are often found in conifer cones and under bark (Phillips 2002).

The common name of the family Anobiidae, the Deathwatch Beetles, derives from the mating behavior of the males of Anobium punctatum (DeGeer) which strike the vertex of the head against the anterior margin of the pronotum producing an audible "tick." This is repeated in periods of seven or eleven strokes. This behavior gave rise to an ancient superstition that the sound was a portent of death. Xestobium rufovillosum (DeGeer) also exhibits this behavior.

Ernobius schedli - dorsal habitus.

In Canada eight species are recorded and of these three species, E. bicolor White, E. mollis (Linné)and E. schedli Brown have hitherto been found in Atlantic Canada. E. schedli had only been recorded from Newfoundland in this region (McNamara 1991). The common species in this region is the introduced Palearctic, E. mollis.

Ernobius schedli - head & antennae.

Recently both Ernobius granulatus (LeConte) and E. schedli Brown have been found in Nova Scotia. The latter species is pictured on these pages from a specimen collected by Jeffrey Ogden on June 23, 2003 on Brier Island, Digby County, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Description

Most of the species in this genus are readily distinguished by the comparitive length of the antennomeres (Downie & Arnett 1996). In E. schedli antennomere 9 is as long as the 3 preceding segments in the male; slightly shorter in the female.

References

Downie, N. M. & Arnett, R. H. Jr. 1996. The Beetles of Northeastern North America. Sandhill Crane Press. Gainsville, Florida. 1721 pp.

McNamara J. 1991. Anobiidae: Deathwatch Beetles. In Bousquet, Y. Checklist of Beetles of Canada and Alaska. Agriculture Canada Publication 1861/E. pp. 201-205.

Philips, T. K. 2002 Anobiidae Fleming 1821. In Arnett, R. H. Jr., M. C. Thomas, P. E. Skelley, & J. H. Frank [ed]. 2002. American Beetles, Volume 2: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea.. CRC Press, Boca Raton, USA. pp. 245-260.