PEET - Austral Staphylinidae

Databases | Catalog of higher taxa, genera and subgenera of Staphyliniformia

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This queryable catalog database provides references for the original descriptions of all names for family-group taxa, genera, and subgenera of Staphyliniformia (9,256 names in August 2005). It indicates their present taxonomic rank, taxonomic placement, and status (as valid names for taxa, or as junior synonyms, homonyms, or unavailable names, in the latter cases indicating the valid name). It also indicates the type genus of family-group names and type species and mode of type species designation for genus-group names, as well as explanatory comments regarding the original attribution or current status. Subsequent citations of names are not generally included. All entries indicate if the original descriptions were examined or if data were taken from other sources. Misspellings are generally not included unless these are very widely used, and when included are identified as such. The catalog is believed to be complete and current for all available, plus widely used unavailable, family-group and genus-group names that have been proposed for taxa included in the families currently included in Staphylinoidea (Agyrtidae; Leiodidae; Hydraenidae; Ptiliidae; Silphidae; Scydmaenidae; and Staphylinidae, including Dasyceridae, Micropeplidae, Pselaphidae, Scaphidiidae) and family-group names for taxa currently included in Hydrophiloidea sensu lato (Sphaeritidae; Synteliidae; Histeridae; and Hydrophilidae sensu lato, including Epimetopidae, Helophoridae, Hydrochidae, Spercheidae, Georissidae). For genus-group names, senior homonyms mentioned that belong outside Staphyliniformia are NOT in the database; the online Nomenclator Zoologicus is a good place to look these up if needed.

For the more than 4,600 valid staphyliniform genera, the general geographical distribution (in text and regional check-off fields) and known number of described species are indicated. These distributions and species counts are intended only to give a general idea of the size and overall distribution of each genus. Data are incomplete for many genera of the huge staphylinid subfamily Aleocharinae, and may not be completely up-to-date or accurate for other groups. In the Aleocharinae in particular, widely varying usages of genera and subgenera further complicate the attempt to provide such summary data. Subgenera may have regional fields checked, but since many species have never been assigned to subgenera, their distributions must be regarded as incompletely documented here; in some cases subgenera are coded the same as the genus to which they belong, which may be inaccurate. Some distributional data are previously unpublished, and are based on examination of specimens in collections; such cases are not necessarily indicated.

The names and current status of the taxa included here are largely from the same sources as those used for the catalog of austral species of Staphylinoidea, which should be consulted for details. In addition, data on family-group names are mainly updated or corrected from Newton & Thayer (1992), and data on genus-group names in certain groups are updated mainly from the following sources: Pselaphinae from Newton & Chandler (1989); Scydmaenidae from Newton & Franz (1998); Silphidae from Madge (1980); Agyrtidae and Leiodidae from Newton (1997, 1998), and Hydraenidae from Hansen (1991). All references in the catalog are linked to entries in the Bibliography by a unique number, RefNo, assigned to each publication, and the original reference is displayed with the name in the detailed query results. Assignment of islands to regions is shown here. Full documentation of this and the other databases, including the island list, is available here.

This database is essentially a draft of the Staphyliniformia section for an “Official List of Family- and Genus-group names in Coleoptera through 1999", a collaborative project sponsored by the Asociación Europea de Coleopterología and the Coleopterists Society under the direction of Dr. Miguel Alonso-Zarazaga (Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid, Spain), which will culminate in the submission of a final list for all Coleoptera to the International Commission for Zoological Nomenclature.

Suggested form of citation for this database:
Newton, A. F. and M. K. Thayer. Catalog of higher taxa, genera and subgenera of Staphyliniformia [online]. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History [posted date of last update].
Available from URL: <http://www.fieldmuseum.org/peet_staph/db_1a.html>
Accessed/Downloaded [your access/download date].

Sources cited
Hansen, M. 1991. A review of the genera of the beetle family Hydraenidae (Coleoptera). Steenstrupia 17: 1-52. (RefNo 1822)

Madge, R. B. 1980. A catalogue of type-species in the family Silphidae (Coleoptera). Entomologica Scandinavica 11: 353-362. (RefNo 2985)

Newton, A. F. 1997. Review of Agyrtidae (Coleoptera), with a new genus and species from New Zealand. Annales Zoologici 47: 111-156. (RefNo 5373)

Newton, A. F. 1998. Phylogenetic problems, current classification and generic catalog of world Leiodidae (including Cholevidae), pp. 41-178 in: P. M. Giachino & S. B. Peck (eds.). Phylogeny and evolution of subterranean and endogean Cholevidae (=Leiodidae Cholevinae), Proceedings of XX I.C.E., Firenze, 1996, Atti Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali, Torino. (RefNo 6811)

Newton, A. F. & D. S. Chandler. 1989. World catalog of the genera of Pselaphidae (Coleoptera). Fieldiana: Zoology (N.S.) 53: 1-93. (RefNo 3426)

Newton, A. F. & H. Franz 1998. World catalog of the genera of Scydmaenidae (Coleoptera). Koleopterologische Rundschau 68: 137-165. (RefNo 5699)

Newton, A. F. & M. K. Thayer. 1992. Current classification and family-group names in Staphyliniformia (Coleoptera). Fieldiana: Zoology (N.S.) 67: 1-92. (RefNo 3432)

Corrections or additions to this database would be greatly appreciated, and should be directed to Al Newton anewton@fieldmuseum.org

Database last updated on 27 August 2005

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