A review of the small carrion beetle genus Dissochaetus Reitter (Coleoptera: Leiodidae; Cholevinae) in México

Descriptions, a key to species, and distribution maps are presented for the 18 species of Dissochaetus Reitter, 1884 known from Mexico. Twelve new species are described from Mexico and these are: D. acanthus Peck and Cook from Puebla and Veracruz states; D. angustiformis Peck and Cook from Oaxaca and Guerrero states; D. bifurcus Peck and Cook from Hidalgo, Chiapas, Puebla and San Luis Potosi states; D. brevis Peck and Cook from Durango, Estado de Mexico, Morelos, and Oaxaca states; D. chiapensis Peck and Cook from Chiapas State; D. claviformis Peck and Cook from Chiapas, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Morelos, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro, San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas, and Veracruz states; D. cristobalensis Peck and Cook from Chiapas State; D. lobatus Peck and Cook from Durango, Hidalgo, Nuevo Leon, Oaxaca, Queretaro, and San Luis Potosi states; D. newtoni Peck and Cook from Chiapas, Oaxaca, and Veracruz states; D. ocozocoautla Peck and Cook from Chiapas State; D. reniformis Peck and Cook from Chiapas State; D. sinuosus Peck and Cook from Chiapas, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Estado de Mexico, Nuevo Leon, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro, San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas, and Veracruz states. D. texanus n. sp. Peck and Cook, formerly missidentified as D. mexicanus Jeannel, is described from Brewster County, Texas and may occur in adjacent Mexico. Additionally, D. arizonensis Hatch 1933 occurs in adjacent USA (Arizona, New Mexico, Texas) and should be expected in northern Mexico. All the species are carrion and dung scavengers in semi-arid to wet forests, from near sea-level to 3050 m in altitude, and some are troglophilic scavengers on bat guano in caves.