Pinophilini

Pinophilini is distinguished from other tribes in Paederinae by morphological characters that support its consistent recovery as monophyletic in phylogenetic analyses. The subtribe Procirrina is characterized by features that allow unambiguous placement of fossil specimens such as †Cretoprocirrus. Specific diagnostic characters for the tribe as a whole are not detailed in available sources.

Members of the subtribe Procirrina are found in leaf litter, on bushes and trees, and in caves. These habitat associations apply to extant species; the paleohabitat of the Cretaceous fossil †Cretoprocirrus is inferred from amber preservation in forest environments.

Predominantly tropical and subtropical distribution. The eight extant genera of Procirrina show disjunct Old World-New World distributions, particularly in the species-rich genera Palaminus and Oedichirus. Fossil evidence includes Cenozoic compression fossils from the Green River Formation (50.3–46.2 Ma) and Miocene ambers from Dominican Republic (20.43–13.65 Ma) and Mexico (20–15 Ma), plus Upper Cretaceous Burmese amber (ca. 99 Ma) for †Cretoprocirrus.

• Other Paederinae tribesPinophilini is one of four tribes in the subfamily Paederinae; distinguished by morphological synapomorphies that consistently support its monophyly in phylogenetic analyses.

• rove beetles
• Staphylinidae
• Paederinae
• Cretaceous fossil
• Burmese amber
• tropical distribution

• BugGuide
• Wikipedia
• iNaturalist taxon
• Catalogue of Life
• The Oldest Representative of the Rove Beetle Tribe Pinophilini (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), from Upper Cretaceous Burmese Amber