Taxonomy of the genus Craspedomerus Bernhauer, 1911 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Philonthina) from China

Three new species of the genus Craspedomerus from China are described and illustrated: C. giganteus Li & Zhou sp. n. from Sichuan, C. gongshanus Li & Zhou sp. n. from Yunnan and C. zhangi Li & Zhou sp. n. from Tibet. Four species are reported for the first time from China: C. sinetuber (Coiffait, 1977a) from Tibet, C. cyanipennis Scheerpeltz, 1976b, C. ganeshensis Coiffait, 1983 and C. glenoides (Schubert, 1908) from Yunnan. These four and two additional species previously recorded from China (C. beckeri Bernhauer, 1934 and C. violaceipennis Cameron, 1928 are redescribed and illustrated. Sensory peg setae located on the underside of the paramere of the aedeagus of all nine Chinese species are compared using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the result shows that this character is useful for species identification. A key to the Chinese species of Craspedomerus is presented and geographical distribution of all sixteen species of Craspedomerus is mapped.