Larval morphology of selected Quedius Stephens, 1829 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Staphylinini) with comments on their subgeneric affiliation.

The study concerns the larval morphology of eight Quedius species from four subgenera: Distichalius, Microsaurus, Quedius, and Raphirus. Mature larvae of three species: Q. (Microsaurus) brevis, Q. (M.) cruentus, and Q. (M.) microps are newly described. The hitherto poorly known larvae of five species: Q. (Raphirus) boops, Q. (Distichalius) cinctus, Q. (s. str.) fuliginosus, Q. (s. str.) molochinus and Q. (M.) mesomelinus, are redescribed. Illustrations of structural features are provided. The combination of characters that allow for distinguishing the known mature larvae of Quedius from closely related genera within the subtribe Quediina is specified. Diagnostic larval morphological characters for each of the subgenera are proposed. The analysis of morphological features within the genus Quedius, with the application of the Multi-Variate Statistic Package (MVSP), showed high distinctiveness of the subgenus Quedius and low coherence among species within the subgenus Microsaurus. The intraspecific variation in the number of bifurcate setae and their spacing on fore tibiae of Q. cinctus is presented.