Coleotestudus: A new genus for North American species currently in the genus Niptus (Coleoptera: Ptinidae) and description of two new species from Mexico

Abstract

A new genus, Coleotestudus gen. nov., is proposed for the North American species currently placed in the genus Niptus Boieldieu and are transferred herein.  Those species with this new combination include Coleotestudus ventriculus (LeConte), Coleotestudus guiliani (Aalbu and Andrews), Coleotestudus sleeperi (Aalbu and Andrews), Coleotestudus abditus (Brown), Coleotestudus arcanus (Aalbu and Andrews), Coleotestudus neotomae (Aalbu and Andrews), Coleotestudus absconditus (Spilman), and Coleotestudus abstrusus (Spilman). Two new species from Mexico are also described as Coleotestudus potosi sp. nov. and Coleotestudus nahuas sp. nov. Distinguishing morphological characteristics to separate the North American Coleotestudus species from Niptus hololeucus are given.  Morphological evidence presented herein along with DNA sequence data and a Western USA and Mexican distribution strongly support the hypothesis that Coleotestudus does not share a recent common ancestor with N. hololeucus and both represent independent clades of spider beetles that are not closely related.