Psilus boscii Jurine, 1807

Notton, David G., 2010, A catalogue of the types of Platygastridae (Hymenoptera, Platygastroidea) at the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, with brief notes on the history of the collection, Zootaxa 2358, pp. 1-24 : 18

Psilus boscii Jurine, 1807 , 318.

Current status. Inostemma boscii

? Holotype Ƥ, Switzerland, Geneva (MNHN). Holotype by monotypy. Lectotype selection by Masner (1964a) invalid.

Labels. Boscii / H. [?Hors de] Geneva, Jurine [? holotype Ƥ].

Remarks. The type material of Psilus boscii is a holotype by monotypy since Jurine mentions one specimen in the original description: ‘Cet individu, qu’on rencontre …’. There are two specimens of Inostemma on the same mount in the Bosc collection in the MNHN which originated from Jurine and bear Bosc’s own cabinet label ‘ Boscii ’. The two specimens are female and belong to different species, the one with the longer horn of the first metasomal tergite agrees well with Jurine’s description, whereas, the other specimen on the same mount is not a type since the horn does not extend forward in front of the head. There are also four specimens standing over Psilus boscii in Jurine’s collection in the MHNG noted by Masner (1964a) and while Masner considered them syntypic and selected a lectotype this designation is invalid since, as noted above, the type material can only be one holotype. The best candidate for the holotype at present is the specimen with the longer horn in the MNHN. The type should be in Bosc’s collection because: it agrees well with the description; it was named after him; Bosc was known for making his collection available to others for study ( Notton 2007) and clearly had connections with Jurine; and it has good contemporary label data consistent with it being the holotype. It was not possible to see the MHNG specimens during the current study, so it is recommended here that a future reviser makes a detailed re-examination of the MNHN and MHNG specimens together to confirm the conclusion above.