Figure 4.9. Tracks signaling damage from an unidentified leaf-miner. Photograph by Gregory Dimijian.Staphylinidae (see Sec. 4.4.2), Lampyridae (lightning
beetles or fireflies), Cleridae (see Sec. 4.4.4), and Coc-
cinellidae (ladybird beetles). Tiger beetle larvae live
in tunnels in the ground where they wait for prey to
pass over the opening (Palmer 1976a, 1983a, Pearson
1988). In the Penas Blancas valley, adults of Oxy-
cheila polita run rapidly over rocks near rivers and
dive into fast-flowing currents when disturbed, resur-
facing from the water downstream (Cummins 1992).
The species is more commonly seen at night than day.
The larva is unknown (D. Brzoska and R. Huber, pers.
comm.). Some lightning beetle larvae are specialized
predators on earthworms or snails; others are gener-
alists. Examples from Costa Rican cloud forests in-
clude Lucidota apicalis, Lucidota sp., Magnoculus
sp., three species oiPhotinus, Psilocladus scutellaris,
Psilocladus sp., and Vesta sp. (I. Bohorquez M., pers.
comm.).
Of the 178 families of Coleoptera recognized world-
wide, nearly 110 occur in Costa Rica (A. Soils, pers.
comm.). The largest families, each estimated to have
500 or more species in Costa Rica (R. Anderson and
T. Erwin, unpubl. data), include Carabidae, Staphy-
linidae, Pselaphidae, Scarabaeidae, Buprestidae, Ela-
teridae, Tenebrionidae, Cerambycidae, Chrysomeli-
dae, Curculionidae, and Scolytidae. This list has not
incorporated the changes in classification: Pselaphi-
dae is now classified as a subfamily of Staphylinidae;
Apioninae has been removed from Curculionidae and
placed in Brentidae; Scolytidae should be a subfam-
ily of Curculionidae.4.4.2. Rove Beetles (Staphylinidae)
of Monteverde
James S. Ashe
Rove beetles (family Staphylinidae) vie with weevils
for being the largest family of beetles. Biologists rarely
notice these abundant beetles or are aware of their
exceptional taxonomic, ecological, and behavioral
diversity and their dramatic ecological specialization.
To assess Monteverde staphylinid diversity, R.
Brooks, R. Leschen, and I collected in Monteverde
in May-June 1989, using flight intercept traps and
unbaited pitfall traps on the Pacific side (1240-1800
m) and on the Atlantic side (800-1490 m). We sifted
litter from forest floor habitats and extracted the ar-
thropods with Berlese funnels. We also used hand-
collecting techniques to collect staphylinids from
specialized microhabitats. Specimens were sorted to
morphospecies.
Of the 9349 staphylinid specimens examined, we
recognized 845 morphospecies, in a minimum of 119
genera; 327 species were not assigned to a genus. The
majority of species and specimens are in the subfam-
ily Aleocharinae (356 species, 4109 specimens, 42%
of the species), followed by Staphylininae (182 spe-
cies, 2173 specimens) and Paederinae (101 species,108 Insects and Spiders