Loricula coleoptrata is distributed throughout Europe, from southern Scandinavia and southern England to Spain, Portugal and the South of France, and eastwards at least to Poland. It also occurs in North Africa (Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia) (Péricart, 1972, 1996). Until now, the species in North America was only known from the state of New York (Schwartz, 1989). As other Palaearctic species, Loricula coleoptrata has strong sexual dimorphism: males are elongate and macropterous, whereas females have a globular abdomen and are micropterous to brachypterous depending on the species (Péricart, 1972, 1996; Yasunaga & Yamada, 2017). Females of Loricula coleoptrata can be found in moss, leaf litter, or bundles of twigs. Males, on the other hand, are most often found in grass (Péricart, 1972). The females’ habitat may have facilitated the dispersal of the species outside Europe. Indeed, it is reported that insects living in organic matter can be easily transported, as has been documented for several beetle species of Staphylinidae (Klimaszewski & Brunke, 2018). The city of Montreal is an important river port in North America and it is known that ports can be the entry points for adventive species (Majka & Klimaszewski, 2004; Klimaszewski & Brunke, 2018). An invasive terrestrial flatworm species, Bipalium adventitium Hyman, was also collected and first recorded in Canada from the same area (Justine et al., 2019). Terrestrial flatworm species are known to be easily transported with plant pots (Winsor, 1983; Justine et al., 2014, 2015). This area is surrounded by several large cemeteries (Mont-Royal cemetery and Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery), places where potted plants are common. It is possible that both species were then introduced in this way.

Fig 1. Dorsal habitus of female Loricula coleoptrata, specimen QMOR61153 (scale 200 μm).