Two new species of the Andean genera Leptopeltus Bernhauer and Leptopeltoides Chani-Posse & Asenjo (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Staphylininae) from the tropical Andes, with a new country record and an updated phylogeny

Abstract

The tropical Andes are known as a biodiversity hotspot with the highest percentage of endemic plants and vertebratesin the world. The Andean genera Leptopeltus Bernhauer and Leptopeltoides Chani-Posse & Asenjo contain six and fourspecies respectively, most of which occur in the Andean highlands near 3000 m. Here, we describe two new species of thesubtribe Philonthina, recently discovered in the northern Peruvian Andes: Leptopeltus dieguezi sp. nov. and Leptopeltoidesnilveri sp. nov. To test the phylogenetic position of these new taxa, a dataset of 50 morphological characters scored for 16taxa, including all currently known species of Leptopeltus, and Leptopeltoides, was prepared and analysed by maximumparsimony. Our analysis clearly placed L. dieguezi sp. nov. and Le. nilveri sp. nov. within Leptopeltus and Leptopeltoides,respectively, each of them in a well-supported clade. In addition, Le. nilveri sp. nov. represents the first country record ofthe genus for Peru. An updated phylogeny and distribution map of the species of Leptopeltus and Leptopeltoides, as wellas revised keys to the species of these two genera, are provided.