Kuschelidium Johnson, 1982

Darby, Michael, 2019, New Ptiliidae (Coleoptera) from Sarawak in the spirit collection of the Natural History Museum, London, European Journal of Taxonomy 512, pp. 1-50 : 23

Genus Kuschelidium Johnson, 1982

Described by Johnson on the basis of a single specimen K. maori Johnson, 1982 from New Zealand. The rounded body form and possession of a spatulate plate covering the mesocoxae, are similar features to those possessed by members of the termitophilous subfamily Cephaloplectinae , but in those species the plate is an extension of the proventrum and not of the mesoventrum (incorrectly referred to as the metaventrum by Sawada & Hirowatari 2002). In describing the genus Johnson (1982) refrained from placing it firmly in a subfamily suggesting that the almost contiguous metacoxae and entire elytra placed it closest to some of the nanoselline genera including Mikado Matthews, 1889 and Throscidium Matthews, 1872 . Sawada & Hirowatari agreed when describing K. okinawense Sawada & Hirowatari, 2002 from Japan and this is followed here, although the very clear morphological differences between the genus and most other genera in the tribe may well see it change in the future.