Journal of Apicultural Research and Bee World 47(3): 188–189 (2008) © IBRA 2008 NOTES AND COMMENTS The association of multiple sap beetle species (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) with western honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies in North America . James D. Ellis 1* , Keith S. Delaplane 2 , Andrew Cline 3 and Joseph V.McHugh 2 . 1 Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of Florida, Bldg 970 Natural Area Dr., PO Box 110620, Gainesville, FL 32601, USA. 2 Department of Entomology, Biological Sciences Building, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA. 3 California Department of Food and Agriculture, 3294 Meadowview Road, Sacramento, CA 95832-1448, USA. Received 4 October 2007, revised manuscript received 25 April 2008, accepted for publication 28 April 2008. * Corresponding author. Email: jdellis@ufl.edu Keywords: Apis mellifera, Glischrochilus fasciatus, Lobiopa insularis, Epuraea corticina, Carpophilus dimidiatus, Nitidulidae The association of nitidulid beetles (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) with western honey bees (Apis mellifera) is better understood due to research emphases on Aethina tumida Murray as an applied problem, and the discovery of Cychramus luteus (Fabricius) in bee colonies in Germany (Neumann and Ritter, 2004). Aethina tumida is a damaging nest invader of European honey bee colonies in the USA and Australia (Ellis and Munn, 2005) while C. luteus is presumed to be innocuous to bee colonies in Germany (Neumann and Ritter, 2004). In general, highly developed associations between arthropods and social bees, as occur between honey bees and A. tumida (Ellis and Hepburn, 2006), are uncommon when compared to the quantity of similar associations between arthropods and other social insects such as ants and termites (Kistner, 1982). However, nitidulids enjoy a long standing association with social insect colonies, being one of few insect taxa found repeatedly in social bee nests (cf. Ellis and Hepburn, 2006). Despite nitidulids’ success at integrating into social bee colonies, only A. tumida and C. luteus have been documented in honey bee nests. Herein, we report the first discovery of additional nitidulid species repeatedly captured in honey bee colonies in North America. We discovered Glischrochilus fasciatus Olivier in honey bee colonies in five locations in Georgia, USA, from March to June, 2004, and May, 2005. We found 2 – 20 adults in ~20 sampled colonies and in leaf litter in front of bee colonies. Glischrochilus fasciatus were always found in colonies hosting A. tumida (the reciprocal was not necessarily true), possibly because of A. tumida’s widespread distribution in bee colonies in the southeastern USA. More often, we found adults in colony debris (old brood, pollen, honey comb) left unprotected in apiaries. In these instances, we collected > 25 adults alongside A. tumida adults. We never found G. fasciatus larvae in bee colonies, possibly because they are mycetophagous (Parsons, 1943, Majka and Cline, 2006) and unable to mature on foodstuffs located in bee colonies. All colonies where G. fasciatus were discovered were associated with woodland, the habitat this species prefers (Blackmer and Phelan, 1995). To discover if G. fasciatus is capable of reproducing on foodstuffs located in bee colonies, we collected 20 adults and put them into a plastic container (23.5 x 23.5 x 9.5 cm, 3.07 l) with two, 10 cm 2 sections of comb containing pollen, honey, and bee brood. In a second container, we put 10 adults and a foodstuff used to rear A. tumida in vitro [ 1 /4 honey, 1 /4 pollen, 1 /2 Brood Builder™ (protein supplement manufactured by Dadant and Sons, Inc.; Hamilton, IL, USA) by volume, about 400 g total wt.]. We maintained both containers at 25°C and checked them daily for the presence of eggs or larvae. All adults died within two weeks and we never observed eggs or larvae, suggesting that G. fasciatus is not attracted to bee colonies for reproduction. We found Lobiopa insularis Laporte deCastelnau and Epuraea corticina Erichson in bee colonies less frequently than G. fasciatus (≤ 5% of sampled colonies). We found L. insularis under framed screen devices used to detect the parasitic mite Varroa destructor Anderson & Trueman in bee colonies or in other places well protected from bees, where A. tumida and C. luteus are often found (Neumann and Ritter, 2004). We also found this species DOI: 10.3827/IBRA.1.47.3.04