Thyreocephalus puncticeps

Márquez, Juan & Asiain, Julieta, 2016, Taxonomy of the Mexican species of Thyreocephalus Guérin-Méneville (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae, Xantholinini), Zootaxa 4169 (2), pp. 251-285 : 263-264

The puncticeps species group

For the analyses of the following species, we propose the preliminary formation of the species group " puncticeps ", that includes species with similar body size (14.5–21.2 mm), pattern color (body black, with reddish elytra), having conspicuous umbilicate punctures (variably dense) on the dorsal and ventral surfaces, dense punctation on the elytra almost homogeneously distributed, and the prosternum with developed posteromedian carina. The puncticeps species group can include T. puncticeps (from which the name is taken), T. arizonicus , T. cribripennis , T. halffteri and T. rufipennis .

Another aspect that can support the formation of this species group is their geographic distribution, that includes southern United States of America (Arizona, T. arizonicus ) to Guatemala ( T. rufipennis ), a geographic area known as the Mexican transition zone ( Halffter 1987, Morrone & Márquez 2001, Morrone 2006, 2015). This distributional pattern has been observed in diverse biological groups, including some species of Staphylinidae and other coleopteran groups ( Márquez & Asiain 2006, 2012, Morón & Márquez 2012, Asiain et al. 2015, Márquez et al. 2015).

To avoid repeating information, the species of the puncticeps group will not be redescribed, but their most relevant characters for their identification are summarized in the Table 3. In addition, a comparative diagnosis, discussion, natural history, geographic distribution and material studied are included for each species.