86 (3) · December 2014 pp. 199–220 A revision of the Central Asian Scopaeus similis species group (Staphylinidae, Paederinae) Johannes Frisch Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Research on Evolution and Biodiversity at the Humboldt-University, Invalidenstrasse 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany E-mail:
[email protected] Received 7 October 2014 | Accepted 10 November 2014 Published online at www.soil-organisms.de 1 December 2014 | Printed version 15 December 2014 Abstract The Scopaeus similis species group, distributed in Central Asia and the Middle East, is proposed for S. ferganensis sp. n. (Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan), S. gissarensis sp. n. (Uzbekistan), S. hiekei sp. n. (Kazakhstan), S. longilobatus sp. n. (Kyrgyzstan), S. triangularis Luze, 1904 (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tadzhikistan, Uzbekistan), and two subspecies of S. similis Eppelsheim, 1892, S. s. similis (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tadzhikistan) and S. s. minor ssp. n. (Iran, Turkmenistan). It is described including bionomic and biogeographic information, followed by diagnoses of the included species, the distribution patterns of which are discussed and mapped. The S. similis species group is proposed a monophyletic clade using apomorphic characters of the primary sexual organs. Its phylogenetic position within Scopaeus Erichson, 1839 is discussed as well as the phylogeographic relationships within the species group. New country records are published for S. s. similis (Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan), S. similis incertae sedis (Afghanistan, India), and S. triangularis (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan). Keywords Scopaeina | Tien Shan | Alai-Pamir | taxonomy | phylogeography 1. Introduction in the framework of a cooperation of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin and the Institute of Biology and Scopaeus Erichson, 1839 (Staphylinidae: Paederinae) Pedology of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of constitutes a group of predominantly riparian rove Kyrgyzstan, clearly point to a rich diversity of Scopaeus beetles, which presently includes 452 valid species including many endemics.