Systematics of the Inquilinous Hister Beetle Complex Mesynodites (Histeridae: Hetaeriinae)

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ABSTRACTDEB 9815394CarltonLouisiana State Univ.The Histeridae is a diverse family of approximately 4,000 species of predatory beetles that occupy a wide variety of ecological niches. All species within the subfamily Hetaeriinae are guests of ant or termite colonies and have evolved in association with a wide variety of hosts. This subfamily is one of the most diverse ant- and termite-associated insect taxa, with approximately 315 described species. The project is focused on field research on the poorly known ant-associated genus Mesynodites, with about 55 described species and at least twice that number of undescribed species. The project will bring together all distributional and host information on the genus complex and make it available to interested researchers via an internet project website. The database will be important for taxonomic and biodiversity suties, and may also be used as a source of information by researchers conducting studies of the evoution of ant and termite associations. Field expeditions to poorly collected regions of South America will be conducted to procure specimens, and to fill gaps in distributional and host data.