Pselaphinae

Pselaphinae
Pselaphinae
Pselaphinae Plate from Descriptive catalogue of the coleoptera of South Africa (1897)

by Louis Péringuey
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Staphylinidae
Subfamily: Pselaphinae
Latreille, 1802
Genera

Many; see text.

Pselaphinae is a subfamily of small (usually less than 2.5 mm long) beetles. The group was originally regarded as a separate family, named Pselaphidae. Newton and Thayer (1995) placed them in the Omaliine group of the family Staphylinidae, based on shared morphological characters.

Pselaphinae consists of seven "Supertribes":

  • Faronitae,
  • Euplectitae
  • Goniaceritae
  • Pselaphitae
  • Clavigeritae
  • Bythinoplectitae
  • Batrisitae

Pselaphines are a very species-rich group (9,000–10,000 species have been described; Newton and Chandler, 1989), and are especially diverse in the tropics. They are commonly found in decaying leaf litter on forest floors, in grass tussocks, flood refuse, moss, and other highly structured and particulate microhabitats. Little is known about their biology. They are believed to be predatory on small invertebrates, in particular springtails (order Collembola) and oribatid mites (family Oribatidae).

Pselaphines have attracted the interest of entomologists due to their exquisite and massively variable morphology, which is rewarding to observe with a microscope. In addition, the myrmecophilous ("ant-loving") behaviour of some pselaphine groups (notably certain batrisites, pselaphites and clavigerites) has inspired behavioural studies. Spectacular morphology and myrmecophilia are both taken to extremes by the Clavigeritae. These are obligate inquilines which have undergone radical changes in body form, including segmental fusions within the abdomen and antennae to form strong rigid plate- and club-like structures respectively. Clavigerites also possess trichomes, which secrete a solution that ant larvae feed on.

References

  • A. F. Newton & D. S. Chandler. 1989. World catalog of the genera of Pselaphidae (Coleoptera). Fieldiana: Zoology (N.S.) 53: 1–93.
  • A. F. Newton, Jr. & M. K. Thayer. 1995. Protopselaphinae new subfamily for Protopselaphus new genus from Malaysia, with a phylogenetic analysis and review of the Omaliine Group of Staphylinidae including Pselaphidae (Coleoptera), pp. 219–320. In: J. Pakaluk and S. A. Slipinski (editors). Biology, phylogeny and classification of Coleoptera: Papers celebrating the 80th birthday of Roy A. Crowson. Muzeum i Instytut Zoologii PAN, Warszawa.
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