Histeridae beetle?

[JRsbugs]

Hi,

This was tiny, maybe 2.5mm long, feeding on an old pineapple on 21st September.

I have looked everywhere to no avail, best family I could come up with is Histeridae.

Pics will enlarge more with a second click on the pic.

Janet

[Klaas Reißmann]

Hi Janet,

the beetle in your photos is a member of the family Nitidulidae. I guess you call them "Sap beetles". As you possibly noticed I do not know the british beetle inventary well. In Germany we do have two species of this genus, called Cryptarcha. It's C. strigata and C. undata. You will find both of them on the pages of my friend Christoph. The one in your pictures is C. strigata in my mind.

Histerid beetles you normally find in dung (f.e. Hister quadrimaculatus, Hister unicolor and some more in fresh cow dung), in carrion (f.e. the Hypocaccus-species, Saprinus-species and many more), under the bark of dead trees or branches (f.e. Eblisia minor, the Platysoma-species, the Cylister-species) or in formicary (f.e. Dendrophilus pygmaeus, Hetaerius ferrugineus, Myrmetes paykulli and some more) or in the nests of rodent and birds (f.e. the Gnathoncus-species, Carcinops pumilio and some more). If you find beetles on fruits or on flows of sap on trees feeding on it, it is mostly a species of the family Nitidulidae. You can find many yet f. e. on rotten fruits, in summer on the flow of sap on trees.

Regards
Klaas

[JRsbugs]

Hi Klaas, strange as it may sound I had just found the family on an Ameircan site where I recognised the shape!

Thank you for the extra information, I agree with Cryptarcha strigata which on this site is listed as Nationally Notabel B.

It's no wonder as they are so small to find! I will hopefully remember that these feed on saps.