Pinophilinus Eichelbaum, 1908

Struyve, Tim, 2024, Revision of the Afrotropical Pinophilina (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae) Part 1: genera, Pinachenium, Pinoplanus, Pinobelus and Pinocolis, Belgian Journal of Entomology 152, pp. 1-75 : 7

Genus Pinophilinus Eichelbaum, 1908

TYPE SPECIES: Pinophilus fauveli ( Schubert, 1902) designated by BLACKWELDER (1943)

Pinophilinus EICHELBAUM, 1908: 85

Pinogalus FAGEL, 1963: 304 , synonymized by ASSING, 2022: 24

Galopinus LECOQ, 1986: 174 , syn. nov.

The interpretation of the genus Pinophilinus is corrected by ASSING in 2022. This means that the species in the key of FAGEL (1963) under the genus Pinogalus Fagel, 1963 , are now in the genus Pinophilinus .

The genus Galopinus was described for a remarkably small, shiny and more parallel individual: Galopinus parallelus Lecoq, 1986 . In my opinion, this is not enough to conclude this is another genus. Most of the species from Madagascar are indeed much more flattened, sculptured and bigger, but there are smaller species which can be considered as intermediate forms: Pinophilinus anosyanus ( Lecoq, 1986) and P. mantasoae ( Lecoq, 1986) . If we include the species from the mainland of Africa, there are more rather parallel species. If we compare the genitalia, Galopinus is similar to several other species of Pinophilinus from Madagascar (species from the mainland have mostly longer parameres and more complex median lobe). The gular sutures seems to be a bigger problem: in typical Pinophilinus , they are convergent, (nearly) touching each other near the base of the head (typical winged species) or against each other for a bigger part (typical big flattened brachypterous species). Galopinus has the gular sutures nearly parallel. In the material of FMNH, there are two females of an undescribed species of about 7 mm with the gular sutures parallel, but with the punctation rather like P. anosyanus and not Galopinus . So this characteristic seems to vary without a clear separation of the genera. I conclude that both genera are the same, and thus Galopinus is a junior synonym of Pinophilinus , and make the new combination.