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Three new species of the ant-loving beetle tribe Batrisini, Reitter, 1882 (Pselaphinae: Batrisitae) from southeast Xizang, China are described: Arthromelodes lhunzensis sp. nov. , Tribasodites liangi sp. nov. , and Tribasodites yumaicus sp. nov. Illustrations of the habitus and diagnostic features of these species are provided to aid identification. With these additions, the number of batrisine species known from Xizang increases to 83.

The genus Pseudophanias Raffray includes 19 species distributed in the Oriental Region. Here, the first species from continental China, P. tianmuensis Yin & Zhao sp. nov. , is described and illustrated from West Tianmu Mountain. This species can be readily separated from all congeners by the coarse vestiture, along with its male features. A previous key to Pseudophanias species of East and South Asia is modified to accommodate the new species.

Prior to this study, no species of Pseudophanias Raffray had been reported from Nanling, a vast biodiversity conservation area that spans five provinces in southern China. In this paper, three new species of the genus are described: Pseudophanias furcilobus sp. nov. (Guizhou, Guangxi), P. leigong sp. nov. (Guizhou), and P. mulun sp. nov. (Guangxi), suggesting that additional study on the diversity of this group in the area is required. These species are characterized, keyed, and compared to similar congeners, supplemented with illustrations of the habitus and other morphological characters.

The genus Trisiniotus Jeannel of the pselaphine tribe Batrisini comprises two species distributed in North India and southern Myanmar. Here, a third species, T. taoismus Feng & Yin sp. nov. , is described from Mao-shan, Jiangsu Province, East China. The new species can be readily distinguished from both congeners by the unmodified male antennae.

The Oriental pselaphine genus Horniella Raffray, 1905 currently contains 29 species. In this paper, six new species are described: H. nantouensis Zhang, Hu & Yin, sp. nov. and H. taiwanensis Zhang, Hu & Yin, sp. nov. from Taiwan, China; H. bifurca Zhang & Yin, sp. nov. and H. haucki Zhang & Yin, sp. nov. from Thailand; H. khasiensis Zhang & Yin, sp. nov. from northern India; and H. sabahensis Zhang & Yin, sp. nov. from eastern Malaysia. In addition, H. aculeata Yin & Li, 2015, originally described from Yunnan, China, is newly recorded from Thailand.

Physomerinus jiulongensis sp. nov. is described from a series of overwintering individuals collected in decomposing wood at Jiulong National Wetland Park, East China. The new species is characterized and separated from related congeners by the unique form of the sexually dimorphic maxillary palpi, greatly swollen male metafemora, as well as by the shape of the genitalia of both sexes. A key to, and a distributional map of, Physomerinus species occurring in China and on the Ryukyu Islands, Japan is provided.

Six new species of the genus Linan Hlaváč are described from central to southern China: L.arcitibialis sp. n. (Hubei), L.denticulatus sp. n. (Guizhou), L.divaricatus sp. n. (Jiangxi), L.geneolatus sp. n. (Guizhou), L.mangshanus sp. n. (Hunan), and L.mulunensis sp. n. (Guangxi), with illustrations of habitus and major diagnostic characters. Linanmegalobus Yin & Li, originally described from Guizhou, is newly recorded in Hubei. An updated key to and a distributional map of all 16 known species are provided.

A new Chinese species of the genus Linan Hlaváč, 2003, L.qiniangmontis sp. nov. , is described based on two male and three female specimens from sifted leaf litter samples at Qiniang Mountain, Shenzhen City, Guangdong. The species can be readily recognized and separated from all congeners based on the forms of the male antennae, the metaventral processes, and the aedeagus.

We investigated three procedures that may lead to rapid and accurate assessment of epigaeic arthropod biodiversity. They are: (1) the identification of taxa whose diversity is correlated with that of others: (2) the identification of times and methods of sampling that produce estimates of diversity representative of more intensive sampling; and (3) the use of morphospecies inventories generated by non-specialists. Ants, beetles, and spiders were sampled from four forest types, in three seasons, using two collecting methods: pitfall trapping and extraction from litter. Specimens were sorted by a non-specialist to morphospecies and by specialist taxonomists to species. Richness ($\\alpha$-diversity) and turnover ($\\beta$-diversity) were compared for different sampling regimes using morphospecies and species inventories. We found no significant positive correlations between ant, beetle, and spider species richness but there was a strong negative correlation between ant and beetle richness. For beetles alone, richness within the families Carabidae, Scarabaeidae, and Pselaphidae (i.e, avoiding taxonomically problematic families) was significantly correlated with richness within all other families. Assessment of turnover revealed that: (1) the four forest types contained significantly different assemblages of ants and beetles but not spiders and 92) the four forests were less clearly discriminated using species from the three beetle families Carabidae, Scarabaeidae, and Pselaphidae when compared to species from all beetle families pooled. Analyses of single sampling periods and methods revealed that summer and spring pitfall samples were most representative of more intensive sampling. That is: (1) the richness of ants and beetles in these samples was significantly positively correlated with the richness of all other samples and 92) turnover of beetles and ants among the four forests revealed by summer pitfall samples was similar to turnover using all samples. The three beetle surrogate families recorded by pitfall samples in spring, and to a lesser extent summer, showed significant correlations in richness with all other beetle species recorded in the same samples. However, the assessment of turnover was less accurate when only surrogate families were used. The most accurate and cost-effective assessment of turnover was generated by a summer pitfall sample in which data for ants, carabid, and scarab beetles were combined and analyzed as a single data set. Results were largely consistent regardless of whether species or morphospecies were used, which suggests that monitoring and assessment of terrestrial invertebrate biodiversity may be achieved by the careful use of morphospecies. Our results also suggest those invertebrate taxa, sampling methods, and sampling periods that yield the most consistent and reliable assessment of epigaeic invertebrate biodiversity in Australian temperate hardwood forests. However, empirical studies that follow the protocols discussed in this paper are urgently required in different environments. These studies may point the way to more representative monitoring and assessment of terrestrial biodiversity.

The design of a protected areas network that contains or represents as many species as possible (maximum complementarity of areas) is a first step toward in situ conservation of species biodiversity. In the absence of complete species inventories, however, area selection must employ surrogate data such as the distribution of plant or vertebrate species. The degree to which the use of these taxa results in a network of sites with maximum complementarity for others depends on levels of assemblage fidelity among taxa. Assemblage fidelity is defined here as the degree to which assemblages from different phylogenic groups co-occur in space and time. We examined the spatial fidelity of ground-active invertebrate (ants and several beetle families: Carabidae, Scarabaeidae, Pselaphidae), vascular plant, and vertebrate assemblages (birds, small mammals, frogs, and reptiles) at 56 sites in a range of eastern Australian forest types. We used unlogged (n = 32) and logged (n = 24) forest sites. Assemblage fidelity was assessed by ordination and Mental correlation, and patterns of species richness and species turnover that helped explain the findings were analyzed by simple correllation, cluster analysis, and two indices of β diversity. Our analyses revealed general assemblage fidelity among plant, vertebrate, and invertebrate assemblages, and results were consistent in both unlogged and logged forest. In several forest types, however, fidelity among invertebrates and plants was low due to high invertebrate turnover. Overall levels of species turnover were much higher for vascular plants and invertebrates than for vertebrates. Species richness patterns at indiviudal sites were generally uncorrelated among taxa. Our findings suggest that (1) the exclusion of invertebrates from biodiversity surveys cannot be justified on the assumption that plant and vertebrate assemblages act as surrogates for invertebrate species-level biodverisity or on the basis of cost-efficiency; (2) both spatial fidelity and species turnover are useful for evaluating the role of selected taxa as surrogates for the species-level biodiversity of others; (3) the selection of sites for in situ biodiversity conservation should consider taxa that exhibit high levels of species turnover; and (4) the inclusion of invertebrates in biodiversity surveys may offer considerable cost savings and be more representative of species biodieversity than conventional plant and vertebrate surveys.