Catalogue of Geadephaga (Coleoptera, Adephaga) of America, north of Mexico Author Bousquet, Yves Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada bousquety1@yahoo.com text ZooKeys 2012 2012-11-28 245 1 1722 http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.245.3416 journal article http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.245.3416 1313-2970-245-1 FFFF52503A0AFF882450FFB66D45FF8E 578462 Nomius pygmaeus (Dejean, 1831) Morio pygmaeus Dejean, 1831: 512. Type locality: "Amerique septentrionale" (original citation), restricted to "Minaki, n[orth]w[est] of Kenora, Ont[ario]" by Lindroth (1961a: 175). Holotype [by monotypy] in MHNP (Lindroth 1955b: 13). Nomius graecus Laporte, 1835: 145. Type locality: "Grece" (original citation). Syntype(s) in MHNP (collection Oberthuer via James Thomson). Synonymy established by Schaum (1857b: lxxviii). Distribution. The range of this species, also known as the "stinking Beetle", extends from southern Quebec, as far north as Mistassini (Larochelle 1975: 95), to the Queen Charlotte and Vancouver Islands (Lindroth 1961a: 175), south at least to central California (Sequoia National Park, CAS), southern Arizona (Ober and Maddison 2008: 24; Cochise County, CNC), "Oklahoma" (David R. Maddison pers. comm. 2008), Alabama (LeConte 1846b: 209), northern Georgia (Fattig 1949: 16), and southern South Carolina (Ciegler 2000: 56); one specimen was collected in the highlands of Chiapas in Mexico (Reichardt 1977: 394). In the Old World, this species has been found in southern Europe, Cyprus (Fauvel 1889b: 96), Morocco, and Iran (Talysh) ( Hurka 2003: 346). Records. CAN : AB, BC (QCI, VCI), MB, ON, QC, SK USA : AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, DE, GA, ID, IL, IN, ME, MI, MN, MT, NC, NJ, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, TN, UT, WA, WI, WV - Mexico Figure 26. Nomius pygmaeus (Dejean). This species is known under the vernacular name "stinking beetle" because of the strong fetid smell that the adults produce. They are attracted to lights and sometimes find their way into houses. It was reported in the literature that at one occasion an entire village had to be evacuated because of the odor produced by these small beetles. The species was often listed as very common at light in the xix Century but is rare today. The species has an unusual range being found in North America and Europe and there is no evidence that it was transported by man from one continent to the other.