Pseudolathra Casey, 1905

Brunke, Adam J. & Schnepp, Kyle E., 2021, Taxonomic Changes in Nearctic Paederinae, New Records and a Redescription of the Enigmatic Genus Acrostilicus Hubbard (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae), The Coleopterists Bulletin 75 (4), pp. 883-894 : 888-889

Pseudolathra Casey, 1905

( Fig. 3B )

Pseudolathra Casey 1905: 129 . Newton et al. 2000 (as subgenus of Lobrathium ).

Lathrobiella Casey 1905: 133 . Newton et al. 2000 (as synonym of Lobrathium ). New synonym.

Lathrotaxis Casey 1905: 122 . Newton et al. 2000 (as synonym of Lobrathium ). New synonym.

Linolathra Casey 1905: 131 . Newton et al. 2000; Assing 2013 (as synonym of Pseudolathra ).

Microlathra Casey 1905: 142 . Newton et al. 2000 (as synonym of Pseudolathra ).

Paralathra Casey 1905: 130 . Newton et al. 2000; Assing 2013 (as synonym of Pseudolathra ).

Comments. Recently, Żyła et al. (2021) showed that Pseudolathra , previously a subgenus of Lobrathium , was not a member of the subtribe Lathrobiina . Despite its similarity in habitus to Lathrobiina , members of Pseudolathra lack the distinctive ventral expansion of the protibia ( Figs. 3B, C ). Nearctic Lobrathium are also quite distinct in habitus from Pseudolathra , and are easily distinguished by their densely punctate and broadly rounded head. Dacnochilus also lacks the ventral expansion of the protibia and is probably related in some way to Pseudolathra ( Żyła et al. 2021; character states confirmed here) but is easily distinguished from it by the transverse to quadrate pronotum. As there has been a history of complicat- ed taxonomic entanglement of Pseudolathra with the unrelated genus Lobrathium , we here confirm Linolathra , Microlathra , and Paralathra as synonyms of Pseudolathra and additionally syn- onymize Lathrobiella and Lathrotaxis based on a combination of the epipleural line present on the lateral elytron, an absence of the ventral expansion of the protibiae, and the distinctly elongate pronotum. Based on the above generic synonymy and using Newton (2019) as a nomenclatural baseline, the following 49 Nearctic species belong to Pseudolathra (without subgeneric assignment), though future revisionary work may reveal many of them to be synonyms:

Figures

Fig. 3. Paederinae. A) Stamnoderus monstrosus, dorsal head, B) Pseudolathra oregonensis, protibia, ventral protrusion absent, C) Lobrathium grande, protibia, ventral protrusion present, D) Homaeotarsus sellatus, dorsal habitus, E) H. cribratus, dorsal habitus, F) H. serpentinus, dorsal habitus. Scale bars = 0.2 mm (A–C), 1 mm (D–F).