Rove beetles on Long Island: A comparison of forest and swamp habitats

Within Coleoptera, Staphylinidae are the most speciose family of beetles with over 63,000 species. Staphylinidae are found worldwide in a diversity of habitats but the literature suggests that they prefer moist microhabitats. In this study, our objective was to examine if Staphylinidae would be more abundant or diverse when collected in a forest versus swamp environment. During Summer 2019, two Malaise traps were placed in Blydenburgh County Park in Long Island, New York. One trap was placed in a forest and the other was placed in a swamp on site. Both traps were maintained five times (about every ten days), and Staphylinidae were removed and sorted to subfamily and morphotype. From the forest trap, we collected 47 Staphylinidae in 22 morphotypes, and from the swamp trap, we collected 91 Staphylindae in 30 morphotypes. Some morphotypes were shared between traps, and in total there were 32 unique morphotypes from four subfamilies: Staphylininae, Scaphidiinae, Aleocharinae, and Tachyporinae. Of the subfamilies found, the most common were Tachyporinae and Staphylininae. While the swamp trap resulted in greater biodiversity and abundance than the forest trap, there was no statistically significant difference between the two (although this could have been due to our small sample size).