NOTES ON THE BIOLOGY OF 
TWO CENTRAL AMERICAN PTINUS 
(COLEOPTERA: PTINIDAE) 
WITH A DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES 
By Robin M. Andrews 1 
In this paper, a new species of Ptinus and the larva of Ptinus 
latefasciatus Gorham are described from Costa Rica. The larval 
habitat was discovered and comments will be made on the biology 
of the two species. The only species life history that has been re- 
corded for New World Ptinidae is that by Linsley and MacSwain 
(1942) on Ptinus calif ornicus Pic, a depredator in the nests of soli- 
tary bees, and there are host records for only a few other native 
species. Most of our knowledge of the family comes from the work 
of Europeans who have been concerned mainly with economically 
important species. Field work was conducted during participation in 
the Insect Ecology course given by the Organization For Tropical 
Studies in Costa Rica during February and March, 1967. The 
study locality was at Finca Taboga, near Canas, Guanacaste Prov- 
ince. Specimens have been deposited in the collection of the Museum 
of Comparative Zoology [MCZ]. 
I would like to thank Dr. J. F. Lawrence, Dr. D. H. Janzen and 
Mr. Robert Matthews for the critical reading of this manuscript. 
I am grateful to Mr. R. D. Pope of the British Museum [BM] for 
the loan of specimens of P. latefasciatus. 
Ptinus latefasciatus Gorham 
(Figs. 1-11, 15, 16) 
Ptinus latefasciatus Gorham, 1883: 194 (described from Vera Cruz, Mexico; 
Cerro Zunil, Paso Antonio, Duenas, Guatemala; David, Tole, Pan- 
ama) ; Pic, 1900: 256; Papp, 1962: 411. Syntypes in the British Museum. 
Ptinus latefasciatus ? var. tripartitus Pic, 1900: 256. 
Ptinus mexicanus Pic, 1901: 299. 
Description of adult: Sexual dimorphism absent. Patterned 
in black and reddish-brown; clothed with both black and gold setae; 
'Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 
Present address: Department of Entomology, University of Kansas, Law- 
rence, Kansas. 
Published with the aid of a grant from the Museum of Comparative 
Zoology. Contribution No. 1370 from the Department of Entomology, The 
University of Kansas, Lawrence. 
Manuscript received by the editor July 25, 1967 
