Oxypoda (Thliboptera), THOMSON 1859

Assing, V., 2012, On the taxonomy and zoogeography of some Oxypoda species of the West Palaearctic region (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 44 (1), pp. 365-399 : 366

Subgenus Thliboptera THOMSON 1859

The distribution of this subgenus is confined to the Mediterranean region, with the distribution of one species extending into Central, North, and East Europe. Including the new species described below, Thliboptera currently includes nineteen species. The diversity hotspot is Turkey, from where as many as eleven species (seven of them exclusive) have become known.

Thliboptera undoubtedly forms a monophyletic taxon constituted by a highly derived aedeagus. The capsule of the median lobe is conspicuously enlarged and weakly sclerotised, and the ventral process is generally short and more or less strongly curved in lateral view. The internal sac contains conspicuously long, sclerotised apical structures extending clearly beyond the apex of the ventral process, and a characteristic ventral tube of species-specific shape. Aside from some species of distinctive external morphology ( O. antennata , O. togata , O. speculoclara , O. apennina ), a reliable identification of the Thliboptera species is generally possible only based on the morphology of the median lobe of the aedeagus. The spermatheca is of rather uniform shape (little interspecific variation), at the same time subject to considerable intraspecific variation, and consequently of little use for taxonomic purposes. For more information on the subgenus see ASSING (2006a).