Taxonomy and biogeography of the subgenus Eopaederus of the genus Paederus Fabricius (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae) from China

Abstract

The subgenus Eopaederus Scheerpeltz 1957 belongs to the genus Paederus sensu stricto (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae) and exhibits a wide geographical distribution from the far east of Asia through West Europe. In this paper, we describe two new species: Paederus (Eopaederus) noncurvatusn. sp. and P. (E.) curvatusn. sp. from Hubei in the middle of China. The species P. (E.) basiventris Bernhauer 1933 is resurrected to a valid species and not anymore a synonym of P. (E.) nigricornis Bernhauer 1911. Other two species, P. (E.) birmanus Fauvel 1895 and P. (E.) alternans Walker 1858 are designed to the subgenus Eopaederus based on the materials collected respectively from Yunnan and Hainan, South China, whereas the former P. (E.) birmanus Fauvel 1895 is the first-time-record species to the Chinese fauna. A key to nine Chinese species is presented. Zoogeographic analyses show that the subgenus track can be divided into three parts (namely Asia, Middle East and Europe) and each one possesses its own endemic species. Likewise, endemic species ranges can also designed as Europe type, Middle East type, or South and East Asia type. Along the south boundary of Himalayas (Qinghai-Tibet Plateau) through South China, species richness and endemism are obviously higher than in other regions. © 2008 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.