A structured inventory of beetles inhabiting pocket gopher (Geomys breviceps Baird) burrows in Louisiana was conducted over a three year period. Samples from 27 burrow systems at seven different sites were collected, as well as species records from existing collections and prior publications. From these samples, and published references, 21 beetle species from four families (4 Histeridae, 2 Leiodidae, 7 Scarabaeidae, and 8 Staphylinidae) are here recorded from pocket gopher burrows in Louisiana. However, species from other families remain undetermined. Many species identified are new state records for Louisiana. Our results indicate a similar beetle fauna to those found in pocket gopher burrows in Texas and Oklahoma but differing from that of burrow systems in Florida, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. The beetle fauna associated with two subspecies of pocket gopher present in Louisiana are discussed in detail and evolutionary hypotheses for the discrepancy in species richness provided.
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1 April 2008
The Beetle (Coleoptera) Fauna of Pocket Gopher Burrows in Louisiana
Alexey K. Tishechkin,
Andrew R. Cline
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Coleoptera
Geomys breviceps breviceps
Geomys breviceps sagittalis
Histeridae
Leiodidae
Scarabaeidae
Staphylinidae