Introduction. The name of each listed species is followed by up to five sources that report the species as occurring in Michigan. Sources in all upper-case letters refer to specific insect collections: MSU-ARC refers to material held by the Michigan State University Arthropod Research Collection (data provided by G. Parsons). All others refer to collection data extracted from the Symbiota Collections of Arthropods Network (SCAN) database online at https://scan-bugs.org/. See the Methods page for a list of abbreviations and associated collections.
Species names preceded by a single '?' are considered probable (for occurring in Michigan) but uncertain records. Those preceded by '??' are considered possible but unlikely to occur in Michigan. Species that are fully accepted as having valid Michigan records are unmarked. Species reported in the literature that we consider to be erroneous Michigan records are in a separate list following the others.
The genus long known as Trox has been divided into several genera by Nikolajev (2016). GBIF follows the new classification whereas BugGuide does not. In this case we are following the newer classification.
TROGIDAE
2 subfamilies, 3 genera, 17 species
Subfamily Omorginae
Omorgus asper (LeConte, 1854): Ruesink and Parsons (2024), MSU-ARC
Omorgus scabrosus (Palisot de Beauvois, 1805): Ruesink and Parsons (2024), MSU-ARC
Omorgus suberosus (Fabricius, 1775): Townsend (1889), MSU-ARC; Vaurie (1955) says it occurs in "all of the United States except the Pacific northwest and northern New England", but does not list specific localities
Subfamily Troginae
Glyptotrox foveicollis (Harold, 1872): Vaurie (1955), Andrews (1923); BugGuide still uses Trox for this and the next two species
Glyptotrox hamatus (Robinson, 1940): Vaurie (1955), MSU-ARC; Vaurie (1955) implies she examined MI specimens but did not so state explicitly
Glyptotrox spinulosus spinulosus (Robinson, 1940): Zidek (2013), Vaurie (1955), MSU-ARC
Trox aequalis Say, 1831: Hubbard and Schwarz (1878), Vaurie (1955), MSU-ARC; Vaurie (1955) implies she examined MI specimens but did not so state explicitly
Trox atrox LeConte, 1854: Zidek (2013), Vaurie (1955), Downie and Arnett (1996), MSU-ARC
Trox capillaris Say, 1824: Vaurie (1955), MSU-ARC
Trox laticollis LeConte, 1854: Ruesink and Parsons (2024), MSU-ARC; very rarely collected, known from scattered locations from New England to Arkansas
Trox robinsoni Vaurie, 1955: Vaurie (1955), Zidek (2013)
Trox scaber (Linnaeus, 1767): Bezanson and Floate (2019), Hubbard and Schwarz (1878), Downie and Arnett (1996), MSU-ARC
Trox sordidus LeConte, 1854: Hubbard and Schwarz (1878), Ruesink and Parsons (2024), MSU-ARC; known from ON and nearby states of IN & OH in Vaurie (1955)
Trox striatus Melsheimer, 1845: Ruesink and Parsons (2024), MSU-ARC; rarely collected, associated with owl droppings
Trox tuberculatus (DeGeer, 1774): Ruesink and Parsons (2024), MSU-ARC; known also from N. Indiana
Trox unistriatus Palisot de Beauvois, 1805: Vaurie (1955), Andrews (1923), Hatch (1924), Hubbard and Schwarz (1878), MSU-ARC; Vaurie (1955) implies she examined MI specimens but did not so state explicitly
Trox variolatus Melsheimer, 1845: Vaurie (1955), Bezanson and Floate (2019), Townsend (1889), Downie and Arnett (1996), MSU-ARC
The following species was also reported from Michigan, but we consider it to be adventive, a misidentification or other error:
Subfamily Troginae
Glyptotrox terrestris (Say, 1825): Townsend (1889) as Trox terrestris Say; an east coast & SE sp.; should not be in MI
This family list was last updated: March 10, 2023