The distribution of Rhyssemus puncticollis Brown, 1929 in Poland and Latvia, new country records, is presented. Besides 26 localities in northern and central Poland, one Latvian locality is known. The beetle frequently and abundantly inhabits lawns in and around large urban agglomerations, as well as sandy river banks and adjacent pastures. Larvae of this thermophilous, psammophilous, saprophagous species feed upon the organic matter of the upper soil layer of plant origin. We describe the particularly useful diagnostic differences in external morphology between R. puncticollis and Rhyssemus germanus (L., 1767).