Omorgus carinatus

Omorgus carinatus (Loomis, 1922) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: NEW MEXICO. Vaurie (1955) reported a specimen of Omorgus carinatus from ‘Carlsbad Cavern,’ but from only the reported label data it is impossible to tell whether that specimen was collected inside the cave system itself, or from the wider Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Cokendolpher & Polyak (1996: 190) reported a single individual from the “ twilight/dark junction ” of a cave. Omorgus carinatus appears to be associated with nests or middens of woodrats (Neotoma Say & Ord, Cricetidae) (Loomis, 1922; Slay et al., 2012), while woodrats are commonly found in caves (e.g. Tweet et al., 2012). The foregoing facts lead Slay et al. (2012) to categorise the presence of this beetle species in a cave to be accidental.