Eleven species of the genus Margarinotus Marseul (Histeridae: Histerinae: Histerini) are known to occur in California. One of these, Margarinotus merdarius (Hoffmann) is adventive, and two others, Margarinotus ephemeralis Caterino, new species and Margarinotus thomomysi Caterino, new species are described here for the first time. The first of these is closely related to Margarinotus remotus (LeConte), and the second to Margarinotus fenderi Wenzel. Both of the new species are restricted to the nests of burrowing rodents, Spermophilus Cuvier and Thomomys Wied-Neuwied, respectively, and help indicate that the arthropod fauna of such niches is still inadequately documented.

Two adult specimens of Trichoferus campestris (Faldermann, 1835), a newly detected alien wood-boring beetle native to Asia (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), were collected in Repentigny, Quebec, Canada in 2002 and 2006. Adults, pupae, and mature larvae of this species are described, illustrated and diagnosed to facilitate its recognition among other North American Cerambycidae. The mtDNA sequence of the COI “barcoding” region of a Canadian specimen was obtained and analyzed. We discuss taxonomic affinities of T. campestris, its native distribution, host plants, and significance as a quarantine pest in North America. The importance of solid wood-packaging material as a potential pathway for invasive wood-boring species is highlighted. Seven other non-native Cerambycidae species first recorded in North America since 1980 [Tetropium fuscum (Fabricius, 1787), Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky, 1853), Tetrops praeusta (Linnaeus, 1758), Callidiellum rufipenne (Motschulsky, 1860), Phoracantha semipunctata (Fabricius, 1775), Phoracantha recurva Newman, 1842, and Sybra alternans (Wiedemann, 1825)] are briefly discussed.

Habitats, host plants, and preliminary biological notes are documented for Oncocephala promontorii Péringuey, 1898 for the first time. The beetle occurs in open areas of coastal grassland, forest margin, and disturbed urban areas where their Convolvulaceae host plants are found. Seven host plants are verified for the species in the field—Convolvulus arvensis L., Convolvulus farinosus L., Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam., Ipomoea ficifolia Lindl., Ipomoea obscura (L.) Ker Gawl., Ipomoea wightii (Wall.) Choisy, and an unidentified Ipomoea sp. Ipomoea purpurea (L.) Roth is recorded as a host from museum specimen labels. Two additional plants, Ipomoea cairica (L.) Sweet and Ipomoea coccinea L., showed feeding traces that we attribute to O. promontorii. The larvae are solitary miners that produce curvilinear to vermiform mines in the host plant leaves. Pupation is solitary in a separate pupal chamber/mine in the leaf. Imagines are generally solitary, exposed folivores that produce narrow linear feeding trenches in the dorsal leaf surface. Copulation is commonly observed on the dorsal leaf surface.

The egg and larval stages of Mylassa crassicollis (Blanchard, 1851) are described and illustrated. The eggs are stalked and covered with fecal matter forming an egg case. The larvae live inside a case and the larval stages differ in microsculpture and head capsule chaetotaxy. We discuss the inclusion of Mylassa Stål in the Cryptocephalini subtribe Pachybrachina.

Reichenbachia parkeri Carlton, new species is described based on three male specimens from a single Malaise trap in Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The species differs from all other North American members of the genus in the form of the aedeagus. It is found sympatrically with Reichenbachia hardyi Park in an area where habitats favorable to members of the genus occur.

We describe a new species in the genus Scarites Fabricius, S. stenops Bousquet and Skelley, from one specimen collected in Florida. The adult differs from those of other Nearctic species by the very small, flat eyes, the extensive pustulate area at the elytral base, and the markedly convex elytral interval 7 behind the humerus. Scarites texanus Chaudoir is here synonymized under S. subterraneus Fabricius, new synonymy, validating the synonymy proposed in an earlier unpublished work, and Scarites vicinus Chaudoir, previously considered a junior synonym of S. quadriceps Chaudoir, is revalidated [revised status]. We include an updated key to all known Scarites species found in North America, north of Mexico.

We present an updated checklist of the aquatic adephagan Coleoptera collected in northern Tunisia over the course of a year (from May 2005 to April 2006). It includes a total of 57 species (three Gyrinidae, six Haliplidae, one Paelobiidae, one Noteridae, and 46 Dytiscidae). Hydroglyphus major (Sharp, 1882) is recorded for the first time from Tunisia. The distributions of the species in Tunisia and the rest of world is discussed. A list of adephagan species recorded from Tunisia is included.

The flightless dung beetle Circellum bacchus (Fabricius, 1781) is a unique, ectothermic dung beetle that is of conservation concern due to a massive decline in its distribution. Very little is known about its conservation ecology and the upgrade of roads in one of its last strongholds, South Africa's Addo Elephant National Park, led to concerns that road kill was threatening the population because drivers could not see the beetles due to their similar colour as the upgraded roads. We tested whether the upgraded, black, tar roads led to more road kills than the original sandy-red, gravel roads using counts of live and dead beetles along transects through similar habitats of the park. There was no significant difference between the number of live and dead dung beetles on the tar or gravel roads illustrating that the infrastructure improvements themselves are not threatening the persistence of the species. The high levels of vehicle-derived mortality along roads, however, suggest that road kills may be a threatening process with potentially 100,000 C. bacchus killed on roads annually (although 45,000 is a more conservative estimate). Further research is needed to ascertain whether this off-take is sustainable and to formulate mitigation measures.

Descriptions of structures of the second and third instars of Heterosternuta sulphuria (Matta and Wolfe) are presented. Larvae of H. sulphuria are fairly similar to the known larvae of Heterosternuta Strand, all of these being characterized by the presence of lateral spinulae on the prementum, the absence of natatory setae on the legs, the absence of spiracular openings on the mesothorax and abdominal segments 1–7, siphon of the third instar cone-shaped, short, and highly constricted posterior to insertion of urogomphi, and urogomphomere 1 with secondary setae. A key to identification of the third instars of known species of Heterosternuta is provided.