Revision and phylogenetic assessment of the rove beetle genus pseudohesperus Hayashi, with broad reference to the subtribe Philonthina (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Staphylinini)

Abstract

This paper studies the phylogeny of the rove beetle subtribe Philonthina, to test its hypothetical monophyly and to unravel the evolutionary relationships of the subtribe and its included genus-level taxa, with emphasis on the genus Pseudohesperus and its close-allied relatives. The phylogenetic analyses are based on 105 adult morphological characters and 66 terminal taxa, i.e., all six members of Pseudohesperus, 51 species to represent 29 other genera of the subtribe Philonthina, seven species to represent the other six subtribes of Staphylinini, one species of the tribes Arrowinini, and one of the Platyprosopini. According to the phylogenetic results obtained, the genus Erichsonius should move out from the hitherto-defined subtribe Philonthina and thus the monophyly of this taxon is challenged. The phylogenetic tree suggests that the genera Hesperus and Belonuchus might not be monophyletic, but the monophyly of Pseudohesperus and the sister relationship between it and Bisnius are well supported. The species-level phylogenetic relationships of the genus Pseudohesperus reveal a clear pattern of species diversification that can be correlated well with the species' zoogeographical patterns. The paper also revises the taxonomy of Pseudohesperus and describes five new species from China: Pseudohesperus luteus Li & Zhou sp. nov., Pseudohesperus pedatiformis Li & Zhou sp. nov., Pseudohesperus tripartitus Li & Zhou sp. nov., Pseudohesperus sparsipunctatus Li & Zhou sp. nov., and Bisnius lubricus Li & Zhou sp. nov. An identification key to the species of Pseudohesperus is provided and their geographical distributions are mapped. © 2011 The Linnean Society of London.