Genus Pycnoscelus Scudder, 1862

Type species: Pycnoscelus obscurus Scudder, 1862 [= P. surinamensis (Linnaeus, 1758)], by monotypy.

Remarks: The genus was described as monotypical, on the basis of a single specimen that Scudder (1862) believed to be a male. However, it is evident from the original description that this specimen is actually a larva. Later, P. obscurus was synonymized with P. surinamensis by Princis (1964).

Pycnoscelus surinamensis is a parthenogenetic (thelytokous) species with a worldwide distribution. The closely related P. indicus is a bisexual species distributed in South and South-East Asia (Roth, 1998). Pycnoscelus indicus is evidently most closely related to P. surinamensis . I previously considered these as parthenogenetic and bisexual forms of a single species (Anisyutkin, 2002), but meanwhile I changed my view and follow Roth (1967, 1974, 1998) in regarding them as two distinct species: P. indicus and P. surinamensis .

Species included: Those given in Beccaloni (2014) [ P. aurantia Hanitsch, 1935, P. conferta Walker, 1869, P. femapterus Roth, 1998, P. gorochovi Anisyutkin, 2002, P. indicus (Fabricius, 1775), P. janetscheki Bey-Bienko, 1968, P. micropterus Hanitsch, 1931, P. nigra (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1865), P. rothi Anisyutkin, 2002, P. semivitreus Princis, 1967, P. striatus (Kirby, 1903), P. surinamensis (Linnaeus, 1758), P. tenebrigera (Walker, 1868) and P. vietnamensis Anisyutkin, 2002] plus P. schwendingeri sp. nov.