Alexey Solodovnikov

• PhD
• Professor (Associate) at Danish Natural History Museum

Based on a phylogenomic analysis, we here update the higher classification of the rove beetle subfamily Staphylininae, an insect mega‐lineage comprising over 9000 described species. All established or newly proposed higher taxa are statistically robust and biogeographically plausible monophyla identified by morphological characters, many of which a...

The behavior of organisms is very difficult to observe and document, especially direct interactions such as predation. As a result, there are few systematic studies of such phenomena on a large scale and the food webs of organisms that are formed by fleeting and opportunistic interactions are largely unknown. Understanding food webs is essential fo...

Philonthus is a megadiverse genus represented by 49 species in the Danish fauna, with another three species expected to occur in the region in the near future due to range expansion. Philonthus are found in a large variety of mainly ephemeral habitats, including animal feces, plant debris, compost piles, fungi, carrion, and in washed up debris alon...

This paper focuses on insect remains found at the Kebezen site (51.93600° N, 87.09665° E) on the Turachak stream, Altai Republic, Russia, in layers ranging in age from 20.1 to 19.3 cal ky BP, corresponding to the onset of the last deglaciation. Coleoptera, represented by 105 species from 21 families, predominate in the sediments, with the families...

Based on the ongoing phylogenetic study of the subtribe Amblyopinina, two new genera are described, Chimalfus gen. nov. and Liracoxa gen. nov. to accommodate three species earlier misplaced in the genus Sphingoquedius. The resulting new combinations are Chimalfus brevis (S´aiz, 1971) comb. nov., Chimalfus discoideus (Fairmaire and Germain, 1862) co...

Deep learning has previously shown success in automatically generating morphological traits which carry a phylogenetic signal. In this paper we explore combining molecular data with deep learning derived morphological traits from images of pinned insects to generate total-evidence phylogenies and we reveal challenges. Deep learning derived morpholo...

The here-provided description of the new genera Chiquiticusgen. nov. and Nitidocolpusgen. nov. was necessitated by a phylogenetic study of Staphylininae (to be published separately), which will be used for the proper characterization of their respective new suprageneric lineages in an upcoming update of the higher classification of this subfamily....

Phylogenetic assessment of COI barcodes from 22 specimens identified as Q. molochinus based on external morphology and shape of the aedeagus revealed three non-sister clades within this recently revised species, with large molecular distance (6.3–7.8%) among them, suggesting their species status. On the contrary, preliminary study of the aedeagal i...

Phengodidae (Coleoptera: Elateroidea), commonly known as glowworm beetles, are a small family of bioluminescent and paedomorphic beetles. There are few phylogenetic studies of Phengodidae, and these are mostly discordant, especially when comparing morphology-based and molecular-based phylogenetic hypotheses. Here, we used the anchored hybrid enrich...

Philonthus splendens sideropterus Kolenati, 1846 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) was considered a Caucasian intraspecific form of the widespread West Palearctic Philonthus splendens (Fabricius, 1793) with an unclear diagnosis and volatile status. Mostly, it has been considered a variety of P. splendens or, recently, its subspecies, without firm justifi...

Subfossil remains of insects found in the Lebed site (52.25220°N, 87.15692°E) located on the Lebed River, Altai Republic are recorded. The calibrated radiocarbon dates for two layers of these deposits were 16,461-17,056 cal BP, and 13,520-14,077 cal BP, which correspond to the oldest and older Dryas (Late Pleistocene). Insect assemblages of these d...

Staphylinidae, or rove beetles, are one of the mega-diverse and abundant families of the ground-living terrestrial arthropods that is taxonomically poorly known even in the regions adjacent to Europe where the fauna has been investigated for the longest time. Since DNA barcoding is a tool to accelerate biodiversity research, here we explored if the...

Acrulia danica Shavrin sp. n. from late Eocene Danish amber is described and illustrated based on a female holotype. The new species, embedded within a small piece of amber, was scanned using X-ray micro-computed tomography (μCT), to enable the detailed study of its morphology including the taxonomically important structure of the accessory sclerit...

Using a phylogenetic analysis as a baseline, we conducted a taxonomic revision of the genus Loncovilius Germain, 1903 which now includes 10 valid species. Of them, six species, all restricted to the southern Andean region, are described as new for science: Loncovilius barclayi sp. nov., L. cantharoides sp. nov., L. carlsbergi sp. nov., L. hammondi...

We conducted an integrative taxonomic study of a forest floor dwelling montane rove beetle Quedius obliqueseriatus Eppelsheim, 1889. It is one of many endemic species of the North-Western Caucasus, a region considered a global biodiversity hotspot. Examination of the morphological characters in 93 specimens of Q. obliqueseriatus and phylogenetic as...

Species in the genus Cryphalus are small and notoriously difficult to identify. Even among the relatively well studied European species, erroneous identifications are evident from literature and in museum collections. These misidentifications relate to the small size and similar appearance of Cryphalus species but they are also a product of insuffi...

The taxonomic composition, phylogeny, ecology, biology, behaviour, and fossil record of Proteininae Erichson, 1839 is reviewed to place the first Eocene fossil specimen from Baltic amber in the knowledge framework of this rove beetle subfamily. The Baltic amber fossil is a poorly preserved female which was examined using X-ray micro-computed tomogr...

Insects are one of the few groups of animals that developed the ability of active flight. Such mobility allowed the group to successfully explore and thrive in nearly all kinds of ecological niches. At the same time, during the evolutionary history of insects, due to high costs of wing development, flight was lost independently in many groups. In b...

With more than 66,000 described extant and over 400 fossil species the rove beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) are arguably the largest family of all eukaryotic organisms 1. Rove beetles dominate terrestrial habitats all over the world and have inhabited our planet since at least the Middle Jurassic 2. They are pervasive in leaf litter an...

A new species of narrow-waisted bark beetle is described from Eocene Rovno amber (Ukraine): Diagrypnodes villumi sp. nov. (Coleoptera: Salpingidae). This fossil refutes a simplistic view of the genus Diagrypnodes as a typical Gondwanan lineage whose extant species are disjunct between Australia, New Caledonia, and New Zealand. Diagrypnodes villumi...

Based on reared material, all the immature stages of Emus hirtus (Linnaeus, 1758) are described. This is an especially interesting species of rove beetle because it looks very striking, hunts dung-inhabiting insects, has a patchy distribution and is a protected species in some countries. Descriptions are supplemented by a few field and laboratory-b...

During four years of sampling by canopy traps with fermenting baits, adults of the Quedius dilatatus rove beetle were collected in large quantities together with the Vespa crabro hornet across several regions in Central European Russia. Contrary to previous reports which stemmed from collecting methods inadequate for this ‘rare’ inquiline of the Eu...

Although the Holarctic fauna has been explored for centuries, many questions on its formation are still unanswered. For example, i) what was the impact of the uplift of the Himalaya and Tibetan Plateau?, ii) what were the timings and climate of the faunal bridges connecting the Nearctic and Palearctic regions?, and iii) how did insect lineages resp...

Subfossil remains of insects and branchiopod crustaceans (Cladocera and Notostraca) found in three late Pleistocene deposits in the Novosibirsk region in the vicinity of the village of Suzun have been described. The calibrated radiocarbon dates for these deposits were 24,893-25,966 cal BP (Suzun-1), 20,379-20,699 cal BP (Suzun-2), and 27,693-28,126...

Staphylinidae beetles form a major portion of terrestrial biodiversity globally and, in particular, in Northern Eurasia, a large area with a historically better known north temperate, subarctic and arctic biota. However, even here, rove beetles remain amongst the so-called “dark taxa” with a high fraction of taxonomically unknown lineage diversity....

Based on the exhaustive literature survey we provide the annotated catalogue with 874 species of Staphylinidae beetles relevant for the fauna of the open plains of the South European Russia (PSER). PSER is a convenience study region with some ecological integrity as it coincides with the Russian part of the Eurasian belt of steppe and semi-desert b...

We here present the first integrative revision of the subgenus Quedius Stephens, 1829 sensu stricto where taxonomic decisions are based on morphology, genomic phylogeny (published elsewhere) and single locus DNA evidence. The subgenus is restricted to the Holarctic region and includes some of the largest, most robust members of the genus Quedius. F...

The Mesozoic, ca. 99-million-year-old Burmese amber is an incredible source of fossil beetles that have been very actively studied in recent times and have already significantly improved our knowledge about the evolution of the large family of Staphylinidae, the rove beetles. Nevertheless, new extinct taxa of high phylogenetic interest are being di...

This paper is devoted to the fauna of Quedius Stephens, 1829 of Middle Asia. It provides descriptions of two species new to science Quedius (Distichalius) gissaricus sp. nov. from Tajikistan and Q. (Raphirus) viator sp. nov. from Kyrgyzstan. Two more species are reported as potentially new to science, but not formally described: Q. (Microsaurus) sp...

A new species of the xanthopygine genus Ikaros Chatzimanolis & Brunke, 2021 is described from Colombia: Ikaros navarretei sp. nov. Illustrations and a key are provided to identify the four known species of Ikaros .

Paedomorphosis is a heterochronic syndrome in which adult individuals display features of their immature forms. In beetles, this phenomenon occurs widely in the superfamily Elateroidea, including the net-winged beetles (Lycidae), and, due to the usual flightlessness of paedomorphic females, it is hypothesized to cause speciation rates higher than i...

Deep learning algorithms and particularly convolutional neural networks are very successful in pattern recognition from images and are increasingly employed in biology. The development of automated systems for rapid and reliable species identification is vital for insect systematics and may revolutionize this field soon. In this study, we demonstra...

We describe a new genus and species of Paederinae rove beetles, Ruptor cordatus gen. et sp. nov., which lives in the arboreal nests of the termite Labiotermes labralis (Holmgren, 1906) in the Amazon lowlands of Peru. The morphology of Ruptor gen. nov. is highly derived, apparently due to its close association with the termite host, and thus, morpho...

We describe for the first time a potential stridulatory apparatus in Oxyporinae rove beetles (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae), which was found in all 18 studied species of the genus Oxyporus and only in three out of six studied species of the genus Pseudoxyporus. No potential stridulatory structures were found in two species of Oxyporus larvae, which we...

The paper presents new data on the subfossil insects and molluscs, as well a new radiocarbon date for the Gornovo site in the Southern Fore-Urals. As a result, the stratigraphic interpretation of the sediments of the lower part of the first above floodplain terrace of the Belaya River is corrected and they are assigned to the Tabulda Horizon (MIS 3...

Recently published molecular and total evidence phylogenies of the mega-diverse rove beetle subfamily Aleocharinae defined a backbone for the greatly needed further detailed phylogenetic research and large-scale reclassification of this lineage. Given the enormous species diversity of Aleocharinae, wise taxon sampling is crucial for such research....

In the course of a long taxonomic history, Quedius umbrinus Erichson, a common West Palaearctic rove beetle, was gradually split into a dozen species before all of them, except Q. sigwalti Coiffait from Crete, were lumped back into a single species again. All these shifts were based on the intuitive evaluation of morphological variation only. We se...

Rigorous species delimitation is a challenge in biology and systematics in particular. In insects, male genitalia traditionally, and the barcoding region of the CO1 gene recently, are the main markers to identify species, even though a standalone use of CO1 for that is often criticized. In our systematic revision of the mycophagous and in other way...

The mesovoid shallow substratum (MSS) can act as a climatic refuge for invertebrates, as a biogeographic corridor to deeper substrates or as a permanent habitat for some species. This study characterizes the seasonal invertebrate diversity and abundance of MSS ecosystems in central Portugal focusing on Diplopoda, Diplura, Orthoptera and Coleoptera...

Rove beetles of the tribe Quediini are abundant predators in humid micro-habitats of forested, open, synanthropic or subterranean ecosystems, with just over 800 species distributed across the temperate and subtropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Previous molecular phylogenies included only a limited representation of this diversity but have...

Seventeen species of Neuroptera and one species of Raphidioptera are reported from the southern part of the European Russia. Wesmaelius navasi (Andreu, 1911), W. vaillanti (Navás, 1927), Chrysopa phyllochroma Wesmael, 1841, Lopezus fedtschenkoi (McLachlan, 1875) and Xanthostigma xanthostigma (Schummel, 1832) are new for the Republic of Kalmykia; Ch...

Seventeen species of Neuroptera and one species of Raphidioptera are reported from the southern part of the European Russia. Wesmaelius navasi (Andreu, 1911), W. vaillanti (Navás, 1927), Chrysopa phyllochroma Wesmael, 1841, Lopezus fedtschenkoi (McLachlan, 1875) and Xanthostigma xanthostigma (Schummel, 1832) are new for the Republic of Kalmykia; Ch...

The Khasurty locality (Lower Cretaceous of Transbaikalia, Russia) is one of the largest fossil insect sites in the region. Over the entire period of study, more than 6000 insect imprints have been collected here, representing 16 orders and 130 families. Dipterans, aphids and hymenopterans are the most common forms here, the most diverse taxa are Di...

Phylogenetic studies of Aleocharinae rove beetles, arguably one of the least known and the largest insect lineages, are compromised by its enormous taxonomic diversity. DNA, a powerful resource for phylogenetics, is not available for numerous extant aleocharine species. We provide a broad comparative morphological study of Aleocharinae to frame mol...

Paederinae is one of the most diverse subfamilies among rove beetles, yet their evolutionary history remains poorly understood. This is attributed to the limited number of phylogenetic studies, which either sought answers at a shallower taxonomic level or included limited taxon sampling. Especially problematic is the position of the rare Neotropica...

Phylogenetic studies of Aleocharinae rove beetles, arguably one the least known of one of the largest insect lineages, are compromised by its enormous taxonomic diversity. DNA, a powerful resource for phylogenetics, is not available for numerous extant aleocharine species. We provide a broad comparative morphological study of Aleocharinae to frame...

Paederinae, a diverse subfamily of rove beetles (Staphylinidae), is poorly explored with an outdated subtribal and generic classification lacking proper phylogenetic perspective. Therefore, the discovery of two Baltic amber fossil specimens resembling the genera Micrillus and Scymbalium, which are particularly challenging in terms of systematics, c...

The first fossil rove beetle (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae) from New Zealand is described from the earliest Miocene Foulden Maar fossil-Lagerstätte, Otago. The new species, Sphingoquedius meto n. sp., is attributable to the tribe Amblyopinini of the subfamily Staphylininae based on the scutellum with anterior scutellar ridge only; isodiametric microsc...

As a result of the integrative (morphology and DNA barcodes) revision of the Taiwanese species of the rove beetle genus Quedius belonging to the abnormalis group, in the subgenus Microsaurus, three valid hypogean species are reported for the fauna of this island: Quedius masuzoi Watanabe, 1989, Q. nishikawai Watanabe, 1991 and Q. adilus sp. nov. A...

Cafius gigas Lea, 1929 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) was a large rove beetle endemic to Lord Howe Island (LHI) resembling Cafius and the LHI flightless endemic Hesperus dolichoderes (Lea, 1925). Like several other LHI endemics, C. gigas became extinct due to human-introduced rats. It is a legacy species valuable for understanding the LHI biota in ter...

Cafius gigas Lea, 1929 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) was a large rove beetle endemic to Lord Howe Island (LHI) resembling Cafius and the LHI flightless endemic Hesperus dolichoderes (Lea, 1925). Like several other LHI endemics, C. gigas became extinct due to human-introduced rats. It is a legacy species valuable for understanding the LHI biota in ter...

The rove beetle tribe Amblyopinini (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Staphylin-inae) is a recently discovered monophyletic lineage comprising an estimated 1000 or more species of mainly leaf-and log litter-dwelling predatory insects found throughout the southern hemisphere. Of these, a single genus Heterothops Stephens somehow conquered all continents in...

Oxyporinae are a visually attractive and highly specialized mycophagous subfamily of rove beetles (Staphylinidae) with enigmatic origins and a largely unknown evolutionary history. Our knowledge of their immature stages and biology, valuable for solving questions about their phylogeny, is still very fragmentary. Here, we describe for the first time...

In a recent paper (Jenkins Shaw et al. 2020) we stated that the holotype of Amazonothops aslaki would be deposited in the Natural History Museum of Denmark (NHMD). According to the conditions of the permit RDG 0328-2017-SERFOR-DGGSPFFS/RDG 356-2017-SERFOR-DGGSPFFS, the holotype and one paratype (SEM coated male with same data as holotype but from 4...

A new monotypic genus of Staphylininae Latreille, 1802 tribe incertae sedis is proposed based on Amazonothops aslakigen. et sp. nov. from the Peruvian Amazon. Descriptions and illustrations of the new genus and species are provided. Its systematic placement and phylogenetic significance are discussed.

The recognition of Holarctic species, those shared between Nearctic and Palaearctic regions, often implies continuous or recent events of gene flow across the 85-km-wide Bering Strait between Alaska and Russia. During the Pleistocene (2.8–0.012 Mya), the Bering land bridge has provided frequent episodes of continuous, tundra habitat across this bar...

Triassic fossils are rare but crucial for understanding the early evolution of large insect clades including beetles (Coleoptera). Their phylogenetic assignment is problematic because of fragmentary preservation, yet crucial for the correct use of the information they provide. Here an analysis is presented of the phylogenetic position of Leehermani...

Corrigendum to “The beetle (Coleoptera) fauna of the Insect Limestone (late Eocene), Isle of Wight, southern England” [Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh110, 405–92, 2019] - Volume 110 Issue 3-4 - Alexander G. KIREJTSHUK, Alexander G. PONOMARENKO, Andrey S. KUROCHKIN, Anatoly V. ALEXEEV, Vadim G. GRATSHEV...

Cenozoic climate cooling, particularly during the Eocene, has drastically shaped modern biological assemblages through a shift from an equable greenhouse to a polarized icehouse. Present-day Europe lies in a highly seasonal and temperate area that strongly embodies this modern icehouse climate. Baltic amber provides a Middle Eocene snapshot of the...

We provide the first multilocus molecular phylogeny of a group corresponding to the former subfamily Staphylininae. Results are corroborated by the morphological, biogeographical and palaeobiological evidence to serve as a baseline for an updated suprageneric classification. The former subfamily Staphylininae is proven to be a lineage sister to the...

This paper is the first inventory of the fauna of the rove beetle genus Quedius in the Russian Federation. It provides an annotated catalogue of 88 species of Quedius currently recorded from Russia, based on several collections and a critical evaluation of all earlier published records. All species are listed with a summary of their overall distrib...

Cenozoic climate cooling, particularly during the Eocene, has drastically shaped modern biological assemblages through a shift from an equable greenhouse to a polarized icehouse. Present-day Europe lies in a highly seasonal and temperate area that strongly embodies this modern icehouse climate. Baltic amber provides a Middle Eocene snapshot of the...

With more than 63,000 described species, Staphylinidae (rove beetles) is the most speciose family of Coleoptera. The subtribe Amblyopinina (Staphylininae: Staphylinini) is a recently discovered monophyletic lineage comprising an estimated thousand or more species of predatory insects that dominate the forest floor habitats of the Southern Hemispher...

A review of the faunistic composition of the coleopterous taphocenoses from Bembridge Marls is given. Only two families (Cupedidae and Carabidae) have been recorded from this site before. A total of 31 families have been revealed and determined in the course of the recent study, and 42 species have been described: Agabus latissimus Ponomarenko, sp....

Leptusa atriceps and L. antarctica, flightess representatives of the nearly global genus Leptusa in the remote and widely distributed subantarctic islands, are taxonomically revised. Identity and the widely disjunct distribution of L. atriceps on Falkland, South Georgia, Marion, Crozet and Kerguelen Islands are confirmed. Leptusa antarctica is foun...

The exceptionally well-preserved and diverse insect fossil record of the Baltic amber group is a unique source for science. However, bubbles and thick layers of white gaseous froth cover numerous inclusions in this type of amber, rendering their examination with traditional light microscopy impossible. Here, we show that X-ray micro-computed tomogr...

Twenty eight species of the genus Quedius from Middle Asia comprising Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, are revised. Quediusaltaicus Korge, 1962, Q.capitalis Eppelsheim, 1892, Q.fusicornis Luze, 1904, Q.solskyi Luze, 1904 and Q.cohaesus Eppelsheim, 1888 are redescribed. The following new synonymies are established: Q....

A checklist of all described species of Philonthina, a subtribe of the staphylinid tribe Staphylinini, known to occur in Central and South America (CASA) is presented. Included for each species, and for synonyms known from CASA, is a reference to the original description, type locality and type depository, and for each species the known distributio...

In order to classify and taxonomically describe the first two fossil Othiini (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Staphylininae) species from three well‐preserved specimens in Cretaceous Burmese amber, a phylogenetic analysis was conducted, combining extant and extinct taxa. A dataset of 76 morphological characters scored for 33 recent species across the su...

Rove beetles (Staphylinidae) are used to explore the forces that shaped the terrestrial fauna on Læsø, a young ca. 3000 year old Danish oceanic island located in the Kattegat strait between mainland Denmark and Sweden. We compile a detailed list of species of rove beetles for Læsø (328 species) and the surrounding Danish and Swedish regions (altoge...

Baltic amber is a rich source of fossilized organisms and a valuable tool for evolutionary, biogeographical and palaeoenvironmental research. Because it is found in several deposits around the Baltic Sea, the exact area of origin, age in the Eocene and palaeoenvironment of the amber forest form a subject for ongoing discussion. Furthermore, there i...

Quedius (Microsaurus) repentinus sp. n., a new hypogean montane talus-associated species from Altai is described and considered sister to the morphologically and bionomically similar Q. (M.) roma Solodovnikov et Hansen, 2016 from Sikhote-Alin. Both species seem more closely related to the Q. (M.) przewalskii species group from the mountains of Chin...

The Quedius mutilatus group, a very poorly known presumably monophyletic complex of wingless, possibly hypogean species confined to the Tien-Shan Mountains, is characterized as such for the first time. Newly available material clarified the identity of Q. mutilatus Eppelsheim, 1888 and Q. kalabi Smetana, 1995, each hitherto known from a handful of...

The recently established subtribe Acylophorina comprises several morphologically diverse genera. They were revealed as a monophyletic group primarily by molecular-based phylogenetic analysis. The morphological disparity and significantly disjunct geographical distribution of Acylophorina suggest a higher diversity in the past that has been reduced...

The rove beetle Myotyphlus newtoni Solodovnikov & Jenkins Shaw, 2016 is reported from two new rodent hosts from Victoria, Australia. Based on the preservation of one of the specimens with its mandibles clasping rodent hair, the association of Myotyphlus with mammals is discussed.

We investigated ground beetles and rove beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae, Staphylini-dae) in seven forests in Zealand, Denmark. We studied three management regimes: Unmanaged, selectively managed, and production forests. Congruent with several other studies we found no difference in ground beetle diversity between management regimes. We found signifi...

Devilleferus brunkei Jenkins Shaw & Solodovnikov, gen. et sp. nov., a distinctive new genus and species of Staphylinini rove beetle with an unusual set of morphological characters is described from the tropical Andes (Ecuador and possibly Colombia and Bolivia) in South America. To resolve systematic placement of the new genus within Staphylinini we...

1. Larger carabid beetle species linked to open habitats have exhibited recent rapid decline in numbers throughout Europe. For example, Carabus arcensis is on the Danish Red List. 2. Ability of C. arcensis to disperse across non-habitable barriers in an island–mainland landscape has been evaluated through investigation of its population structure a...

Massive biotic change occurred during the Eocene as the climate shifted from warm and equable to seasonal and latitudinally stratified. Mild winter temperatures across Arctic intercontinental land bridges permitted dispersal of frost-intolerant groups until the Eocene-Oligocene boundary, while trans-Arctic dispersal in thermophilic groups may have...