Enoclerus rosmarus (Say, 1823)

Chapman, Eric G., Leavengood, John M. & Dupuis, Julian R., 2025, The Cleridae and Thanerocleridae of eastern North America, with illustrated keys, updated distributions, and special emphasis on the Kentucky fauna, Zootaxa 5639 (1), pp. 1-88 : 42-43

Enoclerus rosmarus (Say, 1823) ; Cleridae : Clerinae : Clerini

Illustrations: Plate 2-I. Key to clerid genera, couplet 17-C; Enoclerus key, couplet 2-E, couplet 7-D, couplet 8-C,

D, couplet 9-A

Distribution: FL to ME to SD to OK (see comments below).

- Recorded from: AL, AR, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, IN, IL, LA, KS, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NE, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, VA, WI, WV, and Ontario ( Barr, 1975; Gosling, 1980; Downie & Arnett, 1996; Peck & Thomas, 1998; Sikes, 2003; BugGuide).

- New State Records: WEST VIRGINIA: Braxton County: Napier, 2-VII-1999, S. M. Clark and R . F. Kirchner ( JMLC, 1; WVDA, 2); Brooke County: 4km SW of Weirten , 40.38699, -80.61966, T . Smith, 25-V-8-VI-2011 ( CMNH, 1); Greenbriar County: Norman Cave area, along Rt. 7, near Julia , 18-19-VII-2009, L. T . Miller ( WVDA, 1); Monongalia County: 5km NE Morgantown on US 119 , 39 - 30.50N, 079- 55.07W, R . E. Acciavatti, 3-VII-2006 ( CMNH, 1); Putnam County: near Poca , 7-VI-2004, W. R . Morris ( WVDA, 1); Upshur County: Buckhannon, along the Buckhannon River , 4-VI-2004, L. T . Miller ( WVDA, 1) .

Kentucky counties (Map 13): Bell (2), Boone (2), Bourbon (3), Breathitt (4), Breckinridge (1), Bullitt (3), Caldwell

(1), Fayette (8), Fleming (1), Franklin (2), Hardin (2), Hopkins (1), Jefferson (7), Kenton (1), Letcher (1), Madison

(1), Mercer (5), Nelson (2), Oldham (1), Owen (7), Owsley (1), Pendleton (5), Union (1), Washington (1), Webster

(1), Whitley (2), nr (1). One of the more frequently collected species in Kentucky with records scattered across the eastern 4/5 of the state.

Years: 1891 (1), 1892 (1), 1916 (1), 1938 (1), 1942 (1), 1944 (2), 1953 (1), 1956 (1), 1959 (2), 1960 (1), 1965 (1), 1966 (1), 1967 (2), 1969 (1), 1970 (2), 1971 (8), 1972 (3), 1973 (1), 1974 (1), 1975 (6), 1976 (8), 1980 (1), 1981 (1), 1982 (1), 1992 (1), 1998 (1), 2001 (1), 2003 (1), 2004 (1), 2005 (1), 2007 (2), 2009 (5), 2010 (1), 2012 (1), 2014 (1), 2016 (1), nr (1)

Months: April (2), May (10), June (37), July (15), August (1), September (1), nr (1)

Collections (67): BugGuide (1), CEWC (7), CHAS (1), INHS (1), JMLC (7), OSUC (2), TAMUIC (1), UKIC (47)

Collection methods: Malaise trap (25), sweeping (4)

Natural History: Knull (1951) reported that it is abundant on flowers and weeds from May to July in Ohio. Dillon & Dillon (1961) reported that adults have frequently been observed on greater horseweed ( Conyza canadensis ). Gosling (1980) beat adult specimens from dead sumac branches. Powell et al. (1996) collected it from musk thistle ( Carduus nutans ) in Tennessee. Mawdsley (2002b) considered adults to be generalist predators because they fed on small weevils, dermestids, mordellids, aphids, other hemipterans, and flies in the lab. Mawdsley (2002b) also reported flower visitation records for common milkweed ( Asclepias syriaca ), yellow sweet clover ( Melilotus officinalis ), goldenrod ( Solidago ), and Virginia spiderwort ( Tradescantia virginiana ), and an adult reared from an abandoned goldenrod gall. Also reared from sumac ( Rhus ) in Florida ( Leavengood 2008b) . Dorshorst & Young (2008) reported the following from label data from Wisconsin specimens: collections from milkweeds ( Asclepias syriaca , A. tuberosa ), and rose ( Rosa ) and rearings from Canada goldenrod ( Solidago canadensis ), common sneezeweed ( Helenium autumnale ), Culver’s root ( Veronicastrum virginicum ), cup plant ( Silphium perfoliatum ), cutleaf coneflower ( Rudbeckia laciniata ), false sunflower ( Heliopsis helianthoides ), great St. John’s wort ( Hypericum ascyron ), New England aster ( Symphyotrichum novae-angliae ), prairie blazing star ( Liatris pycnostachya ), sawtooth sunflower ( Helianthus grosseserratus ), smooth ironweed ( Vernonia fasciculata ), spotted joe-pyeweed ( Eupatorium maculatum ), swamp lousewort ( Pedicularis lanceolata ), white wild indigo ( Baptisia lactea ). They reported that it was most frequently collected by sweeping habitats with herbaceous vegetation (meadows, prairies) and with flight intercept, Malaise and pitfall traps. Wilhelm and Rericha (2012) reported that it occurs on blooms of hairy sunflower ( Helianthus hirsutus ) in Iowa. Price (2014) reared this species from Urophora cardui (L.) galls in Canada thistle ( Cirsium arvense ) in South Dakota.

Comments: Before Barr (1976a), any distributions recorded for E. rosmarus may have included E. rosmarus , E. virginiensis or E. angustus (with the latter one or two junior synonyms of the former, depending on the timeframe) and should be addressed with caution. Additionally, literature records suggesting “Texas to Costa Rica ” ( Wolcott 1947; Papp 1960) are likely erroneous.