186 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS RANGE EXTENSION AND BIOLOGY OF ENDOMYCHOBIUS FLA VIPES (HYMENOPTERA: PTEROMALIDAE) 1 2 Richard A.B. Leifchen3, Robert T. Allen4 ABSTRACT: A new distribution from Arkansas is reported for Endomychobiusflavipes. E. flavipes parasites were reared from host larvae Endomychus biguttatus from collections made during the spring of 1986. A total of 20 adult wasps emerged from three beetle prepupae. While pursuing a survey and rearing study of mycophagous Coleoptera during 1986-87, we reared the parasitic wasp Endomychobius flavipes (Ashmead) (Fig. 1) from larvae of the fungus beetle Endomychus biguttatus (Say) (Coleoptera: Endomychidae). Ashmead (1896) described E. flavipes from one male and six female adult wasps reared from the "supposed larva" of E. biguttatus. Ashmead's specimens were from the Washington, D.C., area and had been given to him by Mr. E.A. Schwarz. Ashmead included no other information on the biology of the parasite or the beetle. Our search of the literature revealed no additional information on the biology or distribution of E. flavipes. The Arkansas specimens of E. biguttatus from which E. flavipes were reared were collected at Lake Wedington, 1 2 miles west of Fayetteville (Washington County) on May 5 and 13, 1986. Additional E. biguttatus larvae and adults were collected from early May through June 3, 1 986 from Lake Wedington (Washington County), Cove Lake and Mt. Magazine (both in Logan Co.), Arkansas. After an apparent hiatus during the summer months, beetle larvae and adults were collected from October 4, 1986, through March 5, 1987 from Lake Wedington and Markham Hill, Fayetteville, Arkansas. But only five of the six E. biguttatuss larvae collected on May 5 and 13 produced E. flavipes. The E. biguttatus larvae were collected while they fed on the hymenium or gill layers of the common split-gill fungus, Schizophyllum commune (Fr.). This fungus is a tough basidiomycete that occurs on trees and branches throughout the year. It has a double row of ridges or gills that are infolded under dry conditions and exposed for spore release when moist conditions prevail. 1 Received April 2, 1987. Accepted April 27, 1987 2 Published with the approval of the Director, Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701 ^Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Entomology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701 ^Professor, Department of Entomology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701 ENT. NEWS 98(4): 186-188, September & October. 1987
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