For this goal we would like to ask all fellow entomologists to send us their Belgian records of Silphidae or contact us so we can revise the Silphidae in your collection.

Carrion beetles (Coleoptera: Silphidae) are a small family of rather large, attractive beetles. Although there exist a few species that are predacious or phytophagous, most species depend on carrion for food and reproduction, and therefor play an important ecological role. In Belgium the family Silphidae is represented by 21 species in two subfamilies; the Silphinae (13 species) and the Nicrophorinae (8 species). Silphidae, and especially Nicrophorinae, are very well known among entomologists and naturalists in general. Yet the distribution, trends and status of the Belgian Silphidae are practically unknown. To improve the knowledge of this very interesting family in Belgium, we present the Belgian Silphidae Project.

This project has as main goal to obtain a database with all records of Silphidae in Belgium, of both literature and collections. The aims are to get a good understanding of the distribution, ecology, trends and status (red list) of the different species present in Belgium. For this goal we would like to ask all fellow entomologists to send us their Belgian records of Silphidae or contact us so we can revise the Silphidae in your collection.

We hope we can rely on your cooperation. Please send your records to: aquatic.adephaga@gmail.com

Contact:

Kevin Scheers, Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), Havenlaan 88 bus 73, 1000 Brussels, Belgium, email: aquatic.adephaga@gmail.com

Wouter Dekoninck, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural sciences (RBINS), Vautierstraat 29, 1000 Brussels, Belgium, email: wdekoninck@naturalsciences.be