224 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. m 



Bolboceras darlingtoni (Wallis) 



Odontaeus darlingtoni Wallis, 1928, p. 175. Type, male, Rancocas Park, N. J., 

 Oct. 27, 1926, Sim (Wallis). 



Bolboceras darlingtoni (Wallis) has been recorded as frequenting 

 sandy areas in the pine and deciduous forests of the East Coast States 

 from Georgia northward to Massachusetts. It was usually found on 

 the coastal plain, but occasional specimens have been collected in 

 mountainous areas. To cite an example of this odd distribution, 

 several specimens of darlingtoni were taken along with a number of 

 liebecki in the mountains at the Mills River recreation area in the 

 Pisgah National Forest, N. C. The burrows of both species were 

 found 2 to 4 inches deep in an old dirt road at the top of a small hill 

 where the soil consisted of packed clay with numerous small rocks. 



In sandy areas darlingtoni makes an almost vertical burrow from 

 8 to 18 inches deep. Sim (in WaUis, 1928, p. 123) mentioned find- 

 ing the species working in pairs, but I rarely found a pair in the same 

 burrow. 



In North Carolina, adults were active in fall, winter, and spring. 

 Specimens were occasionally found coming to light on warm nights 

 in October, November, December, and January. Most of the fresh 

 burrowing activity was noted in April, May, and June, and again in 

 October. 



On Oct. 18, 1952, m a sandy pine woods near Raleigh, N. C, I 

 found two male and four female beetles in shallow burrows under 

 what appeared to be "atypical puff balls." The beetles were feeding 

 on decaying pieces of these puft* balls which gave off an odor similar 

 to fermenting apple cider. Several of them were later identified by 

 Dr. A. Kelman, North Carolina State College, and Dr. Couch, Uni- 

 versity of North Carolina, as Rhizopogon nigrescens Coker and Couch 

 (Ilymenogastraceae, Gastromycetes). Previously, Sim (1930, p. 144) 

 had noted that darlingtoni fed on Rhizopogon pachyphloes Zeller and 

 Dodge. The Rhizopogon mentioned by Sim was entirely subterranean, 

 the beetles burrowing down to it. Bedel (1911, p. 99) stated that he 

 believes that the adult European Bolboceras '^armiger'^ Scopoli had 

 feeding habits similar to those of Bolbelasmus gallicus Mulsant, 

 which has been recorded as feeding on a species of Rhizopogon and 

 other types of fungi. No further references to the adult food habits 

 were seen. Adults of several species were occasionally attracted to 

 fermenting malt, which might indicate more generalized feeding 

 habits than have been indicated by the data available. 



While Sim (1930, pp. 139-147) recorded his observations about 

 the habits of the adults, the larval biology of darlingtoni eluded him. 



Dr. P. O. Ritcher and I were able to work out, at least partially, 

 the biology and life history of these elusive beetles. 



