Forest-floor-fauna
Guides
Bryocorini
Bryocorini is a tribe of plant bugs within the subfamily Bryocorinae of the family Miridae. Members are generally small, delicate mirids associated with mosses, liverworts, and other cryptogamic vegetation. The tribe is distinguished by morphological adaptations for life in moist, shaded microhabitats. Bryocorini represents one of the more specialized radiations within the Bryocorinae, with species often exhibiting reduced wings or brachyptery.
Corylophidae
minute hooded beetles, minute fungus beetles
Corylophidae is a family of minute beetles in the superfamily Coccinelloidea, comprising approximately 18 genera and at least 120 described species. Members are among the smallest free-living insects, with body lengths typically around 2 mm. The family exhibits distinctive anatomical modifications associated with extreme miniaturization, including elevated rates of substitution in nuclear rRNA genes in the most diminutive species. Formerly known as Orthoperidae in older literature.
Lesteva
ocellate rove beetles
Lesteva is a genus of ocellate rove beetles in the family Staphylinidae, containing at least 60 described species. Members of this genus are small predatory beetles with distinct ocelli on the head. At least one species, L. pallipes, has been identified as a subnivium specialist—active beneath winter snowpack and rare or inactive during summer. The genus has a Holarctic distribution with species recorded across Europe, Asia, and North America.
Melanophthalma inermis
Melanophthalma inermis is a species of minute brown scavenger beetle (family Latridiidae) first described by Motschulsky in 1866. These beetles are among the smallest coleopterans, typically found in moist habitats where they feed on fungal spores and hyphae. The species is documented from eastern Canada, with records from New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. Latridiid beetles are generally associated with decaying plant material and are common in forest floor litter and similar microhabitats.
Odontosphindus
Odontosphindus is a genus of cryptic slime mold beetles in the family Sphindidae, established by LeConte in 1878. The genus contains at least three described species distributed in North America. Members of this genus are small beetles associated with slime molds (Myxomycetes), their primary food source. The genus is the type genus of the subfamily Odontosphindinae.