A spectacular new genus of Staphylinini rove beetle from the tropical Andes and its phylogenetic assessment (Coleoptera : Staphylinidae)

Abstract

Devilleferus brunkei Jenkins Shaw & Solodovnikov, gen. et sp. nov., a distinctive new genus and species of Staphylinini rove beetle with an unusual set of morphological characters is described from the tropical Andes (Ecuador and possibly Colombia and Bolivia) in South America. To resolve systematic placement of the new genus within Staphylinini we assembled a dataset of 68 morphological characters scored for 34 taxa representing a broad sample of the respective rove beetle tribe, and performed Bayesian inference and maximum parsimony phylogenetic analyses. Both analytical methods unambiguously placed Devilleferus as sister to the subtribe Amblyopinina, and overall they corroborated recently established subtribal systematics for Staphylinini inferred mainly from molecular markers. Based on the shared synapomorphies, Devilleferus is assigned to the subtribe Amblyopinina. The internal relationships within Amblyopinina remain to be clarified in a broader study of that very poorly explored austral lineage.

New Data, Old Story: Molecular Data Illuminate the Tribal Relationships among Rove Beetles of the Subfamily Staphylininae (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae)

“…The only commonality of these two competing hypotheses is their poor statistical support. Indeed, the position of Afroquediina has seen low statistical support in previous staphylinine phylogenies as well [3,21,40], identifying Afroquedius as a notorious rogue taxon. The relationships within Staphylinini sensuŻyła and Solodovnikov [21] (=Staphylinini propria of prior studies) and Xantholinini, and the positions of Indoquediina and Quediina were likewise poorly supported.…”

Tachyporinae Revisited: Phylogeny, Evolution, and Higher Classification Based on Morphology, with Recognition of a New Rove Beetle Subfamily (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae)

“…142. Parameres, mesial area, degree of attachment to median lobe (modified from Jenkins Shaw et al [ 212 ]: character 67) (lateral and parameral views): (0) paramere(s) well separated from median lobe (Figures 66C, 72F); (1) parameres very closely appressed to median lobe (Figures 33E,G, 56C,D and 61F); (2) parameres absent; (3) not confirmed because of highly modified structures of genitalia. All examined taxa of Tachyporinae in this study have a pair of parameres which are closely appressed to the median lobe of the aedeagus for nearly its whole length.…”

Molecular phylogeny illuminates Amblyopinini (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) rove beetles as a target for systematic and evolutionary research

“…That obstacle is the extremely poor systematic knowledge of this group, which is partly rooted in the lack of any backbone genus‐level classification and, as a consequence, impeded alpha‐taxonomy. So far it is only a small genus, Mimosticus Sharp (Brunke & Solodovnikov, ), a recently described monobasic genus, Devilleferus Jenkins Shaw & Solodovnikov (Jenkins Shaw et al ., ), the limited fauna of Chile (e.g. Coiffait & Saiz, ; Saiz, ), the small and depauperate fauna of Lord Howe Island (LHI; Jenkins Shaw & Solodovnikov, ) and a number of the mammal‐associated taxa (e.g.…”