Fluviphirus Brunke, 2021

Brunke, Adam J., 2021, New relictual genera in Cyrtoquediini and Indoquediini (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Staphylininae), ZooKeys 1076, pp. 109-124 : 109

Fluviphirus Brunke gen. nov.

Fig. 3A-G

Type species.

Fluviphirus elevatus (Hatch), comb. nov.

Etymology.

The generic name is a combination of the Latin word fluvium (river, stream) and Raphirus (a subgenus of Quedius ), where the only species of Fluviphirus was previously classified and to which it bears a superficial resemblance. Noun in apposition.

Diagnosis.

Among other Indoquediini , Fluviphirus is easily recognized by the combination of meshed microsculpture on the forebody and the absence of interocular punctures on the head. It is also the only genus of Nearctic Indoquediini .

Description.

With the character states of Indoquediini (see Brunke et al. 2021) and the following: disc of head and pronotum with meshed microsculpture; eyes moderately convex, not strongly bulging, large, distinctly larger than temples (Fig. 3A ); head with single basal puncture, interocular punctures absent, temples with numerous smaller punctures, with single parocular puncture; antennomere 3 with dense but not tomentose pubescence; apical maxillary palpomere glabrous; penultimate labial palpomere with brush of dense setae (but sparser than that of Indoquedius ); pronotum with two punctures in dorsal row, ‘second’ puncture present (Fig. 3A ); postcoxal process fused across inferior marginal line; elytra with sub-basal ridge reduced to horizontal fragment, with evidence of mesoscutellar collar; humeral spines absent; protibia without lateral spines (Fig. 3A ); metatibia with only two thin spines on outer face (Fig. 3A ); pretarsi of all legs with one pair of empodial setae; abdominal sternite III with basal transverse carina produced posteriad at a sharp angle.

Distribution.

Western North America, broadly distributed along the western cordilleras at a variety of elevations.

Bionomics.

The single species of Fluviphirus is strongly associated with debris along the margins of rivers and larger creeks.

Comments.

Smetana (1971a) placed Q. elevatus in its own species group as it was "quite isolated within the subgenus [ Quedius (Raphirus) ]". The subgenus Quedius Raphirus remains a convenient dumping ground for many unrelated taxa ( Brunke et al. 2021) because of its broad definition, with many plesiomorphic character states, including the absence of certain features typical of other clades within Quediini . Recent phylogenomic analyses recovered Q. elevatus as a member of Indoquediini , as the sister group of either Strouhalium (coalescent analyses) or Indoquedius (concatenated analyses). Fluviphirus shares a number of character states with both genera but more densely sampled, total evidence analyses are needed to determine its sister group.

Figures

Figure 3. Fluviphirus elevatus (Hatch) A habitus B aedeagus, ventral view C aedeagus, lateral view D apex of paramere, underside E male tergite X F male sternite IX G female tergite X. Scale bars: 1 mm (A); 0.5 mm (B-C, E-G); 0.25 mm (D).