Genus Vol. 23(2): 249-256 Wrocław, 30 VI 2012 Three new species of Paracephennium O’KEEFE from Costa Rica (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Scydmaeninae) Paweł Jałoszyński Museum of Natural History, Wrocław University, Sienkiewicza 21, 50-335 Wrocław, Poland, e-mail: scydmaenus@yahoo.com abstract. Three new species of the Neotropical genus Paracephennium O’KEEFE (Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae, Cephenniini) are described from Costa Rica: P. impressum n. sp., P. falini n. sp. and P. sanjoseanum n. sp. Diagnostic characters, including the aedeagi of the newly described species, are discussed and illustrated. Key words: entomology, taxonomy, new species, Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae, Cephenniini, Paracephennium, Neotropical, Costa Rica. INTRODUCTION Only three genera of Cephenniini are known to occur in Meso- and South America. Pseudocephennium reitter, 1883 is represented by P. integricolle, described from Venezuela, and Cephennium spinicolle schaufuss, 1867 known from ‘New Granada’ and transferred to Pseudocephennium by csiki (1919). However, the depository of the type material of P. integricolle remains unknown, and the schaufuss’ species has never been revised, so its placement should be treated as tentative. Two other genera were described recently: four species of Paracephennium O’KEEFE, 1999 are restricted to Costa Rica, and five species of Cephazteca Jałoszyński, 2011 are distributed in Mexico, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Paracephennium is characterized by strongly modified abdominal sterna; the procoxae divided by the prosternal process; the hind pronotal angles with pits deve- loped as indistinct impressions and not as foveae; and the elytra without basal foveae (O’KEEFE, 1999). Moreover, the symmetrical aedeagus of all known species is rela- tively complicated, with short but complex apical projections. Three new species of Paracephennium are described below.