Soil and litter-inhabiting Euplectus Leach, 1817 of the Western Caucasus with discovery of an interesting character among Euplectitae (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae)

This article provides descriptions of six species new to science: Euplectus sanigus sp. nov., E. nartus sp. nov., E. abascus sp. nov., E. apsilus sp. nov., E. belovi sp. nov. and E. semotus sp. nov. Information on the little-known species Euplectus puncticeps Reitter, 1888, E. eichleri Fleischer, 1921, and E. kulzeri Besuchet, 1958 is given. A new informal sanigus species group is proposed, uniting all these species except E. puncticeps and E. semotus. Considerations on the relationship of habitat to the particularities of Euplectus morphology are presented. A new and interesting feature occurring among Euplectitae is discovered and illustrated.