Aphaenoglossa Peyerimhoff, 1937

Hashizume, Takuto & Kishimoto, Toshio, 2025, Discovery of the aleocharine tribe Diestotini in Japan, Ogasawara Islands, with description of a new species of the genus Diestota Mulsant & Rey (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae), Zootaxa 5660 (4), pp. 581-586 : 585

Genus Aphaenoglossa Peyerimhoff, 1937

Aphaenoglossa Peyerimhoff, 1937: 103 (original description; type species: Aphaenoglossa normandi Peyerimhoff, 1937 , fixed by monotypy); Scheerpeltz, 1944: 172 (key); Smetana, 2004: 421 (catalogue; as a subgenus of Diestota ).

Remarks. Aphaenoglossa is monotypic and was described by Peyerimhoff (1937) from Tunisia. Since Smetana (2004), Aphaenoglossa has been treated as a subgenus of Diestota ( Newton 2025) . Based on the original description of Aphaenoglossa ( Peyerimhoff 1937) and the illustrations provided therein, its mouthparts and tarsal formula differ markedly from the diagnostic features of the tribe Diestotini , not only from those of Diestota ( Aphaenoglossa : labial palps with three palpomeres and appear unfused; ligula indistinct; mandibles bifid at apex; tarsal formula 5- 5-5. Diestotini : labial palpus with two palpomeres; ligula distinct, bifid at apex; mandibles not bifid at apex; tarsal formula 4-4-5). Considering these characters, we re-elevate Aphaenoglossa to generic rank. Although its affiliation with Diestotini appears to be inappropriate, the tribe to which it should be affiliated remains uncertain; therefore, it is provisionally retained in Diestotini until a detailed phylogenetic study is conducted. The following combination is resurrected: Aphaenoglossa normandi Peyerimhoff, 1937 .