Revision and phylogenetic assessment of the rove beetle genus Pseudohesperus Hayashi, with broad reference to the subtribe Philonthina (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Staphylinini)
Author
Li, Liang
Author
Zhou, Hong-Zhang
text
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
2011
2011-10-25
163
3
679
722
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.2011.00731.x
journal article
10.1111/j.1096-3642.2011.00731.x
0024-4082
5442095
THE SUBTRIBE
HYPTIOMINA
The subtribe
Hyptiomina
, which was established by
Casey (1906)
, contains only the genus
Holisus
Erichson, 1839
distributed in the Neotropical, Nearctic, and Ethiopian regions (
Herman, 2001
).
Newton & Thayer (1992)
treated it as a subtribe of
Staphylinini
. However, the current systematic position of
Hyptiomina
in the tribe
Staphylinini
may still be questionable (
Solodovnikov & Schomann, 2009
). In the present phylogenetic analyses, the genus
Holisus
nested within the core of
Philonthina
and appeared as Clade C with one branch of the genus
Belonuchus
(Clade D). This result agreed well with the recent phylogenetic study (
Solodovnikov & Schomann, 2009
); although these two studies were based on different sampled representatives and carried out for different purposes. The genus
Holisus
can be distinguished by a very flat body, aciculate apical segments of labial and maxillary palpi, protibia with ctenidium of several rows of stout setae, mesoscutellum with one transverse carina, and especially the presence of an additional oblique line connecting the superior and inferior lines of the pronotal hypomeron (
Smetana, 1995
;
Newton
et al
., 2000
). However, it shares most of its character states with the members of the subtribe
Philonthina
including ligula entire, apical segments of labial and maxillary palpi glabrous, mentum with only one anterolateral seta on each side, neck impunctate, gular sutures fused, claws of all tarsi without empodial setae, and even the additional connecting line of the pronotal hypomeron (similar to that of the genus
Craspedomerus
, but much longer). It is also easy to understand the close relationships of
Holisus
and
Belonuchus
when considering the flat body form and the similar subcortical habitats (most species of
Holisus
and
Belonuchus
are found under the bark of decaying trees) (
Solodovnikov & Schomann, 2009
). If the broad outlines of this analysis are supported by future work, the subtribe
Hyptiomina
may suffer the same fate as
Craspedomerina
(currently treated as a synonym of
Philonthina
) in the future.