Ufeus plicatus Grote 1873

Ufeus plicatus is an extremely rarely-collected species. Until recently the few specimens known were only from the mid-west, mostly from Illinois with a few records from Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Nebraska. This led Forbes (1954) to suggest that the type locality of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was almost certainly in error for Illinois. Recent collections of the species from southern Quebec (Handfield 2011) and Connecticut (Wagner et al. 2011) suggest that not only is Philadelphia a possibility, but that the species might be widespread in the Northeast as is its highly localized and specialized habitat. The species is associated with large poplars, especially eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides Bartram ex Marsh.) growing in moist areas along rivers where there is abundant loose rotting strips of bark near the base of the tree. Larvae hide under the strips of bark during the day and the adults likely hide there also during the day and in the winter. According to Wagner et al. (2011) the eggs are laid in the spring with adults emerging in late spring and early summer, but mainly aestivating until the fall before becoming active. Adults have been recorded in all months except June, but most records are from October and November in the fall and March and April in the spring. The scarcity of adults, even in suitable habitats where they are known to occur, suggests they may not be strongly attracted to light.