Amauropus Reitter, 1918

Hlaváč, Peter, Baňař, Petr & Koukalová, Kateřina, 2021, Endogean and cavernicolous Coleoptera of the Balkans. XXIV. Amauropini (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae) from the collection of the Moravian Museum in Brno, Zootaxa 5039 (4), pp. 584-592 : 585

Genus Amauropus Reitter, 1918

Amauropus Reitter, 1918b: 202 ; Jeannel, 1948: 3, 7 (in key, diagnosis); Newton & Chandler, 1989: 31 (catalogue); Löbl & Besuchet, 2004: 272 (catalogue); Nonveiller & Pavićević, 2008 (in key); Schülke & Smetana, 2015: 360 (catalogue). Type species: Amauropus lobipes Reitter, 1918 .

Diagnosis. Head with well-developed lateral carinae, rostrum with median impression, eyes composed of two ommatidia above long ocular spine. Pronotum elongate, with two basal carinae, each bearing spine, lateral margins convex in anterior portion, posteriorly lateral margins concave, both sections delimited by sharp lateral spine. Each elytron with two weakly-defined basal foveae, with short sutural stria. Abdomen slightly shorter than elytra, first visible abdominal tergite (IV) about five times as long as second (V), lacking external carinae, with well-defined discal carinae, area between them with setose impression. Legs long and slender, mesofemora with long sub-basal spines and large lobe in apical half, mesotibiae thickened at apex.

Remarks. The tribe Amauropini is divided based on the structure of external carinae on the first visible abdominal tergite (IV) into four genus groups ( Jeannel 1948; Barr 1974) as follows:

1 Group of Amaurops ( Amaurops , Bergrothia , Orientamaurops , Pseudamaurops , Zoufalia , western Palaearctic) having external carinae of the first visible abdominal tergite (IV) oblique, remote from the external margin of the laterobasal fovea and going toward the posterior lateral margin of the tergite.

2 Group of Paramaurops ( Paramaurops , Protamaurops , Seracamaurops , Troglamaurops , Tropidamaurops , western Palaearctic) having external carinae of the first abdominal tergite parallel and closely located to the tergal margin.

3 Group of Amauropus (monogeneric, Albania) lacking external carinae of the first abdominal tergite.

4 Group of Arianops (monogeneric, Nearctic) having external carinae very feeble, subparallely and closely located to the lateral tergal margin, except in the species A. extera Barr, 1974 , in which they are strongly oblique ( Barr, 1974: 4)

Amauropus with a single described species based on only holotype from Shëngjin (“Medua” of Reitter; de- rived from the Italian name “ San Giovanni di Medua ”) in Northern Albania and never being collected again is an enigmatic genus, readily separated from other genera of the tribe by the lack of external carinae on the first visible abdominal tergite. The discovery of a single male specimen, holotype in the collection of Vladimír Zoufal allowed us to redescribe it and to provide an illustration of its aedeagus .