A new species of Metopiellus Raffray (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae) from the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, with keys to species of the genus and to the genera of Metopiasini

ABSTRACT

A new Brazilian species of Metopiellus Raffray from the Atlantic Forest biome is described. The species, Metopiellus emavieirae sp. nov., the seventh described for the genus so far, belongs to Metopiasini, a tribe suspected to be composed mainly of myrmecophiles. Nothing is known about the biology of the new species, which is morphologically similar to the recently described Metopiellus guanano Fiorentino, Tocora & Ramirez from Colombia. A key to the species of Metopiellus is provided, as well as two keys to genera of Metopiasini, one dichotomous and one multi-entry, online-based.

KEYWORDS:

• Biodiversity
• Neotropical
• interactive key

Acknowledgments

We thank Jacki Whisenant for the images of the types of Bibrax bradleyi deposited in the Cornell University Insect Collection (CUIC). We also thank Emmeline França who has sampled the female paratype while this paper was being revised and kindly donated the specimen to us on time to be studied and included in the final version. Anonymous reviewers pointed out important missing issues and significantly enhanced the quality of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

Financial support was provided by the Brazilian funding agencies Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico [CNPq; research grant number 304339/2022-9 to the junior author], Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG) and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil [CAPES; Finance Code 001; doctorate grant to the senior author].