OEDICHIRUS SPELAEUS N. SP., THE FIRST CAVE DWELLING BEETLE FROM MADAGASCAR (COLEOPTERA: STAPHYLINIDAE: PAEDERINAE)

摘要

During an expedition of the French National Museum of Natural History in the Tsingy de Namoroka National Park, we systematically collected the cave fauna. Various mainly troglophilic species were found, but one of the most surprising discoveries was a Staphylinidae belonging to a new species and remarkable for its morphologic adaptations: reduced eyes, long antennae and legs, and depigmentation. This species is the first cavernicolous beetle described from Madagascar. A description of the new species is provided, as well as molecular data and details of the ecology of the species.