Male secondary sexual characters resolve taxonomic uncertainty: five new species and a review of the formerly monotypic rove beetle genus Mimosticus Sharp (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Staphylininae).

Abstract

The hitherto poorly known Neotropical rove beetle genus Mimosticus is reviewed. Five new species are described from the Andes, Mimosticus aeneipennis sp. n., Mimosticus latens sp. n., Mimosticus pseudosharpi sp. n., Mimosticus sharpi sp. n. and Mimosticus tenuiformis sp. n. The widely distributed type species of the genus, Mimosticus viridipennis Sharp, 1884, is redescribed. Aedeagal characters traditionally used to delimit species in Staphylinidae exhibited only subtle inter-specific differences in Mimosticus but were corroborated by distinct differences in male secondary sexual characters. A modern description and morphological diagnosis of the genus are provided, distribution and bionomic data are summarized, and the placement of Mimosticus in the Staphylinini subtribe Amblyopinina is justified in the context of recent, character-based phylogenetic hypotheses.