The remarkable Australian rove beetle genus Myotyphlus: its cryptic diversity and significance for exploring mutualism among insects and mammals (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae)

Myotyphlus jansoni (Matthews 1878) a rare and the only rove beetle species from the subtribe Amblyopinina (Staphylininae) in Australia that occurs in the fur of small mammals, is revised. Examination of the male genitalia of this species leads to identification of three distinct species: M. jansoni from Tasmania, Myotyphlus newtoni sp. nov. and Myotyphlus wurra sp. nov. described as new from mainland south-eastern Australia. Distribution, bionomics and host associations are summarised for all three species with the conclusion that at least M. newtoni also occurs in bat guano in caves, or on the ground. Probably, none of the Myotyphlus species is specific to a particular mammal species although M. wurra is only known from one species of Rattus, while the genus as a whole occurs on several species of Rattus, on Pseudomys higginsi and on Antechinus swainsonii. Myotyphlus seems not as strongly associated with its host mammals as the more diverse Neotropical mammal-associated genera of Amblyopinina, which is consistent with the shorter time period of those respective mammals' presence in Australia. Reviewed in the broad context of insect-mammal mutualisms, the ecology and putative sister-group relationships of Myotyphlus suggest an independent origin for the mammal-associated lifestyle in Myotyphlus and Neotropical Amblyopinina, respectively.