Description of late-instars of Bryothinusa koreana Ahn and Jeon (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae) by association of life stage based on DNA sequence data

Abstract

Late-instars of Bryothinusa koreana Ahn & Jeon are described for the first time based upon DNA sequence data of larvae and adults. Twelve larvae were collected on Geoje Island, Korea, in association with adults of B. koreana. The partial cytochrome oxidase II gene (410 bp) was sequenced from the larvae and from several identified adult Bryothinusa specimens, including B. koreana. The intraspecific p-distances of adult B. koreana were from 0 to 4.44%, and interspecific pairwise distances were 10.77% to 13.47%. The sequence results of the larvae were similar to those of adult B. koreana. Based on these results, the larvae were identified as B. koreana and diagnostic characters of the species are provided, with illustrations of features.