Thanasimus formicarius

Distribution in Canada and Alaska. QC, NS. This old-world species was introduced into North America to control the bark beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann in 1892 and in the late 1900 s (Opitz 2002). It is not known if this species is established in Nova Scotia or if these specimens represents an interception of individuals that may have emerged from softwood packing material used as dunnage in shipping containers arriving in the port of Halifax from Europe. No additional specimens have been collected at or near this site despite extensive trapping from 2001 - 2011 in the Halifax-Dartmouth area with similarly baited funnel traps or black-panel intercept traps (Alpha Scents, Portland, OR). There is also a specimen in the Ouellet-Robert Collection (Universite de Montreal) from Berthierville, Quebec, collected by A. Robert in the 1940 s during his studies on Dutch elm disease (Serge Laplante, personal communication). There have been no additional specimens reported from Quebec.