Cafius nauticus (Fairmaire, 1849)

Shaw, Josh Jenkins & Solodovnikov, Alexey, 2016, Systematic and biogeographic review of the Staphylinini rove beetles of Lord Howe Island with description of new species and taxonomic changes (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae), ZooKeys 638, pp. 1-25 : 16

Cafius nauticus (Fairmaire, 1849)

Philonthus nauticus Fairmaire, 1849

Taxon discussion.

Cafius nauticus was originally described in the genus Philonthus from Tahiti ( Fairmaire 1849) and was later moved to Cafius by Fauvel (1874). Cafius nauticus was first reported from Australia by Fauvel (1903) and later Lea (1925), somewhat unclearly, suggested that Cafius nauticus was introduced to Lord Howe Island. In the phylogeny of Jeon et al. (2012), Cafius nauticus was based on a specimen from Australia and it was resolved as a sister group to the genus Phucobius , with Cafius vestitus Sharp, 1874 sister to the clade ( Cafius nauticus + Phucobius ). Undoubtedly Cafius nauticus belongs to the ' Cafius - complex’ sensu Jeon et al. (2012) where, however, it was not assigned to any of the species groups but classified as incertae sedis. It is a wide-spread species known from Hawaii, Japan, China, Taiwan, Society Islands, Austral Islands, Samoa, Fiji, New Caledonia, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Seychelles, Mascarene Islands, Yemen, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, Mauritius, Reunion, Rodriguez and, as an introduction, from Greece ( Newton and Thayer 2005).