At long last after about a three year hunt I was able to secure some beaver beetles! I had put a call out to the beaver trapping community and finally this January I received a call that one of the trappers had obtained 9 beetles from an adult beaver trapped in a lake near Hyper Humus (Newton) in Sussex County, New Jersey. This is the first record of the ectoparasitic beaver beetle from New Jersey. These small wingless and eyeless beetles live on beaver and feed on the beaver's dead skin. They are flattened and at first glance look an awful lot like a flea. The scientific name is Platypsyllus castoris. They have previously been recorded from neighboring states but not New Jersey. An excellent reference on their ecology and distribution is at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1107&context=insectamundi

Here are a few photos of these amazing beetles I took through a microscope (they are only about 2-3mm in size):