Abstract
Until now, the subgenus Lyrothorax Chaudoir, 1838 (genus Pterostichus Bonelli, 1810) in the Western Palaearctic included only the type species, P. caspius (Ménétriés, 1832), distributed along the southern Caspian Sea in Azerbaijan and Iran and, as an introduced species, in the Czech Republic. Studying rich material, including the types, it was found that under the name P. caspius there is a species complex comprising three closely related species, two of these are described in this paper: P. fritzei sp. n. from Iran (type locality Naharkhoran, Gorgan) and P. vagus sp. n. from Iran, which was also introduced to the Czech Republic (type locality Shaskola, Gorgan). These new species differ clearly from each other, as well as from P. caspius, mainly in the features of the median lobe of the aedeagus and its endophallus. A lectotype of P. caspius is designated to ensure the stability of the nomenclature. An identification key, images of all three species and distribution maps are provided. The occurrence of species of Lyrothorax in the Iranian province of North Khorasan and Turkmenistan is not obvious and requires confirmation.
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