Distributional patterns for species groups of Pselaphomorphus Motschulsky (Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae, Jubini), in Central and South America

The genus Pselaphomorphus Motschulsky belongs to the neotropical tribe Jubini (Pselaphinae) which are predacious beetles of 1.5 – 3.2 mm size, inhabiting leaf litter of mature and secondary forest. The genus was originally formed by five described species, each one isolatedly distributed in Panama, Venezuela, Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. After a revision and phylogenetic analysis, the genus now contains at least 19 new species all of them distributed from south of Mexico to north of Argentina. Species groups resulting from phylogenetic analysis seam to correspond to geographic areas and altitudinal gradients. Here we present the distributional patterns in geographical and altitudinal ranges that are supported by different morphological characteristics as body size, antennal shape, and size and shape of the aedeagus.