ZOOTAXA ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition) ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition) Accepted by J. Klimaszewski: 17 Sept. 2019; published: 29 Oct. 2019 47 Zootaxa 4691 (1): 047–056 https://www.mapress.com/j/zt/ Copyright © 2019 Magnolia Press Article https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4691.1.3 http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:30167B32-C19D-4723-9399-C9BC65522B6D First record of stenogastric Corotoca Schiødte (Staphylinidae, Aleocharinae, Corotocini) with notes on behavior, morphology and its phylogenetic significance CARLOS MORENO PIRES-SILVA 1,4 , BRUNO ZILBERMAN 2,7 , IGOR ELOI 1,5 & MARIA AVANY BEZERRA-GUSMÃO 1,3,6 ¹Laboratório de Ecologia de Térmitas, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Estadual da Paraíba (UEPB), Rua Baraúnas, 351— Bairro Universitário—Campina Grande—Paraíba, Brasil CEP 58429-500 E-mail: 4 piressilva@yandex.com, 5 eloi.igor@yandex.com, 6 bezerra.gusmao@uepb.edu.br ²Museu de Zoologia (MZSP), Universidade de São Paulo. Avenida Nazaré, 481—Ipiranga—São Paulo, SP, Brasil. CEP 04263-000 E-mail: 7 brunozilberman@usp.br 3 Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação (PPGEC), Universidade Estadual da Paraíba (UEPB). Rua Baraúnas, 351—Bairro Universitário—Campina Grande—Paraíba, Brasil. CEP 58429-500 Abstract Physogastric rove beetles are usually studied in an aspect of the physogastry concept, which is defined as the enlargement of membranous parts of abdomen. This feature along with lack of the secondary sclerotization is used to differentiate physogastric from stenogastric individuals. Charles H. Seevers was the first author to record that the differences between physogastric and stenogastric rove beetles represent more than merely body size difference and that the secondary sclerotization, which occurs during the post-imaginal growth, leads to differences beyond that matter. Herein, we record the first stenogastric Corotoca specimen, and the morphological and behavioral differences of physogastric individuals are discussed. It is concluded that stenogastric individuals have features that may have useful implications for phylogenetic and taxonomic studies. Key words: Termitophily, rove beetles, physogastry, termite Introduction Although social insects have many ways to ensure the safety and integrity of colonies, various organisms are able to break this protective barrier and take advantage of a number of benefits offered by the life in a society. The organ- isms that manage to invade and integrate into a termite colony are called termitophiles (Kistner 1979). Termitoph- ily evolved independently at least 29 times, and that in rove beetles alone (Staphylinidae) comprises about twelve origins to this lifestyle (Kistner 1969; Jacobson et al. 1986). If one takes into consideration the subfamilies of Staphylinidae, the evolution of termitophily was selective, occurring mostly in the subfamily Aleocharinae (Kistner 1969). The present day termitophiles display many adaptations to live successfully within termite nests. A conspicuous adaptive feature among the most specialized termitophilous rove beetles is their physogastric body plan, which can be defined as the inflation of the membranous portions of the abdomen. This feature was studied in detail by Was- mann (1903) who characterizes it as the hypertrophy of fatty bodies. According to Seevers (1957), the physogastry of termitophilous rove beetles is a post-imaginal acquisition. Contrary to the physogastric body of the developed adult termitophiles, the emergent form is a slender and thin beetle, similar to the free-living Staphylinidae. This form is called stenogastric and will undergo gradual changes, transforming the inconspicuous abdomen into a larger ab- domen, inflated and with plates well sclerotized (Kistner 1982). The post-imaginal growth was also called neosomy by Audy et al. (1972). Seevers (1957) describes stenogastric individuals as frail, slender and usually with well developed wings. The author also illustrated the post-imaginal growth in the termitophile Nasutimimum emersoni Seevers, 1957. Through- out history, this stage of life has been poorly documented, although there are notable records for Thyreoxenus Mann,