Matskási István (szerk.): A Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum évkönyve 101. (Budapest 2009)

Makranczy, Gy.: The genus Thinodromus Kraatz, 1857 in West-Central Africa (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae: Oxytelinae)

34 Gy. Makranczy phylogenetic reasons. Of the remaining Thinodromus diversity, only 3 species were described from this area: T. decorsei CAMERON, 1948, T. thoracicus GlLDENKOV, 2000 and T. nigerius GlLDENKOV, 2000. Since Thinodromus is a widespread genus and present everywhere with numerous (albeit externally usually rather similar) species, it is expected that the tropical areas of Africa also have a great diversity in Thinodromus species, with at least 50 species (estimate). T. thoracicus (described and placed into a new subgenus, Carpaliaceus by GlLDENKOV in 2000), a species with a strange spine-row on the posterior edge of sternite VII, previously thought to be unique to this species, also lives in this area, with another closely related species described herein (also with this spine-row). The traditional subgeneric assignments are abandoned, for reasons given in MAKRANCZY (2006). MATERIAL AND METHODS Regarding the scarceness of any available collection from the former French Africa, it is not surprising that the material that could be examined is rather low in number. The core of this was a bunch of specimens I selected on my personal visit in Paris (MNHN) on 4-5 January, 2001. A few supplementary specimens were later found in other collections. From only one species ( T. gabonicus

) was abundant material available. It was felt necessary to undertake this study, anyway, because the unstable political conditions in many of these countries make the availability of further, significant materials unlikely in the near future. Concerning the examined material, the following is a list of the depositories: BMNH = The Natural History Museum, London, England; CASC = California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California, USA; FMNH = Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois, USA; HNHM = Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest, Hungary; MHNG = Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, Genève, Switzerland; MNHN = Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France; MRAC = Musée royal de l'Afrique centrale, Tervuren, Belgium. THE INTERNAL STRUCTURES OF THE AEDEAGUS IN THINODROMUS Basis of naming, former nomenclature adopted Species of Thinodromus are very simijar-looking, therefore the examination of the male genitalia is obligatory for any determination work and also for descriptions of new taxa. The modification of the male sternite VIII and the aedeagal characters have the most Annls hist.-nat. Mus. natn. hung. 101, 2009