New continental, national, provincial and state records of 34 species of Ptiliidae reported from North America are briefly listed, 20 of which belong to Acrotrichis Motschulsky. Eight European/Palaearctic species (Oligella foveolata (Allibert), Ptiliolum fuscum (Erichson), Ptiliola kunzei (Heer), Ptinella aptera (Guérin-Meneville), P. britannica Matthews, P. johnsoni Rutanen, Acrotrichis parva Rosskothen, A. silvatica Rosskothen) were previously not recorded on the North American continent. Fourteen species are new to Canada and 12 new to U.S.A. New or previously dubious provincial and state records are confirmed for Canada (96) and for U.S.A. (133). Acrotrichis fungi (Abdullah and Abdullah), previously established as a nomen dubium, should be removed from the Canadian list of Coleoptera. An updated checklist of North American ptiliid genera is presented. A tabulated summary of ptiliid species common to North America and either Europe or the Palaearctic is presented. Species are ordered according to their supposed origin (recent introductions or indigenous elements).