On the Genus Paragoniastes Comellini, 1979, with Description of a New Species from Ilhéus, Brazil (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Pselaphinae)

The types of the species of the Goniacerine genus of Pselaphinae Paragoniastes Comellini are revised. Paragoniastes parki Comellini, 1979, is synonymized with P. besucheti Comellini, 1979 (P. besucheti = P. parki syn. nov.), and P. uesci Cuccodoro & Kurbatov sp. nov. is described from the Brazilian state of Bahia. These taxa are described, illustrated, and keyed. Additional characters pertaining to the genus are given. 1. Introduction Members of Paragoniastes are small predaceous rove beetles of the pselaphine tribe Goniacerini inhabiting the forest leaf litter. The genus was erected by Comellini to accommodate Goniastes westwoodi Raffray, 1890 from “Brésil” and three new species from the southern Brazilian states of Santa Catarina and Parana (P. besucheti, P. parki, and P. raffrayi). In the frame of a survey of the pselaphine fauna of the Brazilian state of Bahia, we collected several Paragoniastes at the campus of Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Ilhéus. Comparison of these specimens with the types of Paragoniastes housed in the Muséum d’histoire naturelle, Geneva, indicated not only that they were a new species but also that the holotype and unique specimen of P. parki is conspecific with the types of P. besucheti. The new species (P. uesci) is the first record of the genus in the Brazilian Nordeste. The species are described and keyed, and their habitus is figured. We present drawings of the aedeagi of all the species of Paragoniastes, including that of P. westwoodi. We also mention some additional features pertaining to the genus, such as the system of meso- and metasternal foveae, and the conformation of the second visible abdominal sternite. 2. Material and Methods All the specimens mentioned in this study (167 specimens) have been examined. These are housed in the Muséum d’histoire naturelle (MHNG), Geneva, Switzerland, in the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (MNHN), Paris, France, and in the Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz (UESC), Ilhéus, Brazil. In the future, the material deposited in UESC will be deposited in the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de S？o Paulo (MZSP), Brazil. The label data of the type of P. westwoodi are reproduced literally between “ ”, with additional information pertaining to labels, or localities between [？？], with ∣ as a separator between each individual label. Measurements are defined as follows: body length is measured from anterior outline of head (i.e., apical margin of labrum) to apex of abdomen; head width (HW) is the distance between outer outline of head just behind eyes; head length (HL) is the