RANCHO LA BREA FOSSIL INDICATES NATIVE NEARCTIC STATUS FOR NECROBIA VIOLACEA (LINNAEUS) (COLEOPTERA: CLERIDAE), A SPECIES PREVIOUSLY CONSIDERED A SYNANTHROPIC INTRODUCTION TO NORTH AMERICA

摘要

The cosmopolitan beetle Necrobia violacea (Linnaeus) (Cleridae), formerly thought adventive in the New World through European trade, is reported from a sealed assemblage within the skull of a western camel (Camelops hesternus Leidy, Camelidae) from the famous Rancho La Brea Tar Pits in southern California and radiocarbon dated to approximately 44,000 years ago. The biogeographical significance of this find is discussed in the context of other pre-Columbian records of members of the genus Necrobia Olivier.