| Members of the beetle tribe Tyrini (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Pselaphinae, Pselaphitae) are medium to large in size, morphologically similar predators commonly found in forest and farmland ecosystems. They are believed to act as an essential link in food chain and food web, and have significant importance of ecological equilibrium.Before this study,603species scattered in81genera of the Tyrini have been known worldwide, with the Neotropical, Australian, and Oriental regions have the highest species diversity. Fourteen genera and42species have been known to occur in China, accounting for7.0%of the total world fauna. While having a dominance of Oriental elements over the country, most species are distributed in mountain areas of eastern, southern, and southwestern provinces. Taxonomic studies on the tribe Tyrini by domestic scientists started relatively late in China. Many taxa need a modern revision and an easy-to-use identification key. This is mostly caused by the follo wings:1) Type material of many known species described by foreign workers, are housed in respective foreign museums. Some ’old’species have never been reported again since their original description between the late18th and the first half of the19th century. The simple descriptions of these species, and the lack of illustrations caused much difficulties in species identification.2) Proper samplings using modern techniques have never been conducted in many biodiversity hotspots in China, even estimated numbers of species from these areas remain unavailable, hindering further development and utilization of this resource. Therefore, a large-scale investigation and a through taxonomic study on the Chinese species of Tyrini is necessary and in urgent need. During the present study, over3,500specimens collected from more than70nature reserves in China, many types housed in the Natural History Museum, London, the Natural History Museum of Geneva, the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo, the National Museum, Prague, Czech Republic, and the National Natural History Museum, Bulgarica, and hundreds of unidentified tyrine specimens from several private collections, are examined. The study revealed the following results:1. A total of15genera and94species are now known in China, among which,14genera and91species are covered here. This includes one new genus, viz., Dayao gen. nov., and the following52new species:Dayao pengzhongi sp. nov.(Guangxi), Dayao emeiensis sp. nov.(Sichuan), Labomimus bannaus sp. nov.(Yunnan), Labomimus cognatus sp. nov.(Yunnan), Labomimus dabashanus sp. nov.(Shaanxi, Hubei), Labomimus fimbriatus sp. nov.(Yunnan), Labomimus jiudingensis sp. nov.(Sichuan), Labomimus jizuensis sp. nov.(Yunnan), Labomimus maoershanus sp. nov.(Guangxi), Labomimus mirus sp. nov.(Yunnan), Labomimus paratorus sp. nov.(Shaanxi), Labomimus quadratithorax sp. nov.(Guangxi), Labomimus sarculus sp. nov.(Yunnan), Labomimus schuelkei sp. nov.(Shaanxi), Labomimus simplicipalpus sp. nov.(Yunnan), Labomimus tibialis sp. nov.(Yunnan), Labomimus venustus sp. nov.(Yunnan), Labomimus vespertilio sp. nov.(Yunnan), Lasinus orientalis sp. nov.(Zhejiang), Linan fortunatus sp. nov.(Guangxi), Linan huapingensis sp. nov.(Guangxi), Linan hujiayaoi sp. nov.(Guangxi), Linan tendothorax sp. nov.(Yunnan), Linan uenoi sp. nov.(Guangxi), Megatyrus schuelkei sp. nov.(Yunnan), Megatyrus tengchongensis, sp. nov.(Yunnan), Nomuraius sinicus sp. nov.(Guangxi), Pselaphodes anhuianus sp. nov.(Anhui), Pselaphodes daii sp. nov.(Sichuan), Pselaphodes dayaoensis sp. nov.(Guangxi), Pselaphodes distincticornis sp. nov.(Yunnan), Pselaphodes erlangshanus sp. nov.(Sichuan), Pselaphodes flexus sp. nov.(Yunnan), Pselaphodes grebennikovi sp. nov.(Yunnan), Pselaphodes hainanensis sp. nov.(Hainan), Pselaphodes hui sp. nov.(Guangxi), Pselaphodes kishimotoi sp. nov.(Guizhou), Pselaphodes kuankuoshuiensis sp. nov.(Guizhou), Pselaphodes longilobus sp. nov.(Yunnan), Pselaphodes maoershanus sp. nov.(Guangxi), Pselaphodes monoceros sp. nov.(Xizang), Pselaphodes linae sp. nov.(Fujian, Hainan), Pselaphodes pengi sp. nov.(Sichuan), Pselaphodes pseudowalkeri sp. nov.(Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian), Pselaphodes shii sp. nov.(Hainan), Pselaphodes tiantongensis sp. nov.(Zhejiang), Pselaphodes wrasei sp. nov.(Yunnan), Pselaphodes zhongdianus sp. nov.(Yunnan), Tyrinasius nomurai sp. nov.(Ningxia), Tyrodes jenisi sp. nov.(Yunnan), Tyrus sichuanicus sp. nov.(Sichuan), and Tyrus yajiangensis sp. nov.(Sichuan). All new taxa have been formally published during the two-year time of this study. Identifications of the previously known Chinese species are clarified based on the type series deposited in respective museums, or additional material collected from type localities of respective species.2. All species treated in this paper are described in detail. A taxonomic history, collecting data, distributional information, and comparative notes are provided for each species. Illustrations of habitus for all species, and diagnostic characters for89species are given.3. Keys to genera, species groups, and species of each genus are presented.4. A list of the tyrine species known to occur in China is provided.5. A database containing the following taxonomic information for all known species in the world is built, facilitating quick statistical analyses:scientific name, author, year of publication, type locality, distribution, and taxonomic history.6. A preliminary phylogenetic study on the tyrine genera from China is conducted by using WinClada ver.1.00.08and NONA ver.2.0. The analysis was run for28in-group and2out-group taxa, based on57character states which are coded and explained. The result showed that the Chinese members of the Pselaphodes complex of genera is well supported as a monophyletic group, which agrees well with the current taxonomic system, while the genus Centrophthalmus belonging to the subtribe Centrophthalmina is found to locate within Tyrina. This might be resulted from:1) all non-additive characters were treated equally-weighted, or,2) the classification on the subtribe level, which is largely based on the form of maxillary palpi, is artificial. |
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