Pselaphaulax Reitter, 1909

Löbl, Ivan & Kodada, Ján, 2021, On the Himalayan Pselaphini (Insecta: Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae), Biodiversität und Naturausstattung im Himalaya VII, Erfurt: Naturkundemuseum, pp. 349-368 : 355

Pselaphaulax Reitter, 1909

This genus comprises over 60 species and is widely distributed in the Old World and in Australia. An overview and key to its Asian members are lacking, and the available information on most included species is limited to their original descriptions. Threeare three species in the Himalayan collections examined. Two of them have maxillary palpomeres IV apically truncate with a sensory area in a circular impression. This character is not congruent with the definition of the genus as given by CHANDLER (2001). In addition, they lack carinate outer margins of the pronotal sulci, situated between the basal margin and the lateral antebasal foveae. The third Himalayan species has the maxillary palpomere IV with a sharply defined Vshaped sensory area but unlike other examined species lacks lateral pronotal sulci. The three Himalayan species have the gular moundweakly narrowed posteriad, with the lateral margins oblique or slightly convex and the apical margin nearly transverse. As only a single specimen is available for the two new species described below, we did not clear the elytra to verify the number of the basal foveae and the state of the hind wings. However, their short elytra indicate atrophy of hind wings, a characterstate correlated with reducedeyes. The third unnamed species has the hind wings atrophied and the elytra each with three basal foveae, the outer foveae being oblique, and the antebasal foveae are lacking.