Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Semester of Degree Completion

1993

Thesis Director

Michael Goodrich

Abstract

The monogeneric subfamily Oxyporinae (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) is composed of the genus Oxyporus Fabricius. Members of the genus are obligate inhabitants of higher, fleshy mushrooms. The Illinois fauna of Oxyporus includes nine species from two subgenera which are treated in this study. A key to the identification of adults, descriptions, fungal host lists, and distributional maps are provided for each species. The most commonly collected species in Illinois are O. occipitalis, O. stygicus, O. major, and O. vittatus; uncommon or rare species are O. lateralis, O. quinquemaculatus (a new record for Illinois), O. femoralis femoralis, O. rufipennis, and O. lepidus. Over 1000 host records were compiled for the fungal host lists of the subfamily. The most common fungal hosts for Illinois species of Oxyporus were: O. lateralis from Naematoloma fasciculare, O. occipitalis from Hygrophorus russula, O. quinquemaculatus from Pluteus cervinus, O. femoralis femoralis from Naematoloma fasciculare, O. stygicus from Pleurotus ostreatus, O. rufipennis from Pleurotus ostreatus, O. major from Lepiota acutaesquamosa, O. vittatus from Boletus sp., and O. lepidus from Pholiota sp. Aspects of the fungal habitat, structural and behavioral adaptations of the Oxyporinae to mushroom habitat, and patterns of Oxyporinae-host relationships are discussed.

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