Systematics of rove beetles (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae) associated with Hodotermopsis sjostedti (Isoptera: Termopsidae)

Abstract

Members of the termitophilous subtribe Termitozyrina (Aleocharinae: Lomechusini) associated with Hodotermopsis sjostedti are taxonomically treated. The genera HodotermophilusNaomi & Terayama and TermophidoholusNaomi & Hirono, and each type species (monotypic) are redescribed. Termophidoholus formosanus, originally described from Taiwan, and its host termite H.sjostedti are newly recorded from Laos. Yakuus iwataiKanao & Maruyama gen. & sp. nov. and H.gloriosus were collected sympatrically in the same nests in Yaku-shima, Japan. All of the above species, belonging to the three genera, share the presence of a batch of spurs at the tibial apex of fore and mid legs. Habitus photographs and illustrations of diagnostic features are provided for these species, and their phylogenetic relationships are discussed based on morphological similarities and the extant distribution of the host termite species.