A poorly known African species Xanthopygoides niger (Cameron, 1951), hitherto a member of the monotypic genus of the subtribe Xanthopygina is transferred to the subgenus Raucalius Tottenham, 1949 of the genus Philonthus Stephens, 1829, subtribe Philonthina, and redescribed. The new genus-group synonym Raucalius Tottenham, 1951 = Xanthopygoides Verdcourt, 1952 is established. A new combination Philonthus niger (Cameron, 1951), preoccupied by Philonthus niger (O. Müller, 1764) which is a synonym of Philonthus splendens (Fabricius, 1793), is replaced by a new name Philonthus neoniger Solodovnikov, nom.nov. Diagnostic characters of the genus Philonthus, and the Staphylinini subtribes Xanthopygina and Philonthina are discussed.