Revision of the genus Renda Blackwelder, 1952 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Xantholinini)

Abstract

The genus Renda Blackwelder, 1952 is revised and redescribed. Thirteen previously described species of Renda are redescribed and twenty-one species are described as new. Renda funebris (Sharp, 1876) is proposed as a junior synonym of R. flagellicornis (Nordmann, 1837), R. pubescens (Nordmann, 1837) as a junior synonym of R. formicaria (Laporte, 1835), and R. dalmasi (Fauvel, 1901) as a junior synonym of R. minor Sharp, 1876. A key to the species of Renda is provided and diagnostic characters are illustrated. A generic key for a group of genera consisting of Renda, Agrodes and Plochionocerus is also included. A phylogenetic analysis was performed to analyze the relationships among Renda species, based on the study of 416 specimens belonging to 31 species. The strict consensus tree supports the monophyly of the genus, but species relationships within Renda are poorly resolved, with only two species groups recovered as monophyletic clades.