Oxyserphus Masner, 1961

Kolyada, Victor & Mostovski, Mike B., 2017, Revision of the genus Hormoserphus Townes, 1981 (Hymenoptera: Proctotrupidae), with description of Trachyserphus gen. n. and a new species, Zootaxa 4254 (5), pp. 575-583 : 576

Genus Oxyserphus Masner, 1961

Hormoserphus Townes, 1981 , syn. n. (Type species: Proctotrupes clypeatus Ashmead, 1893 ).

Type species. Proctotrupes maculipennis Cameron, 1888 ; by original designation.

Remarks. Hormoserphus was established by H. Townes (Townes & Townes 1981) for the North American species Proctotrupes clypeatus Ashmead, 1893 (type species, Fig. 1 C), as well as for Hormoserphus segregatus from Nepal that was described in the same work from a single female mistaken for male. The type species possesses a combination of key features characteristic for members of the genus Oxyserphus : a strong margin of the clypeus is bordered by one or more longitudinal keels; the pterostigma has a short r–rs; and the mandibles are bidentate ( Fig. 1 B). Thus, Hormoserphus becomes a junior subjective synonym of Oxyserphus , and a new combination Oxyserphus clypeatus (Ashmead, 1893) , comb. n. is established herein.

Henry Townes (Townes & Townes 1981: 114) also mentioned another species— Hormoserphus transgressus — in the diagnosis of the genus Hormoserphus , stating that “in H. transgressus the upper face of tubercle with wrinkling and a marginal carina”. It is unclear what his intention was, since this species was mentioned neither in his key to the species of Hormoserphus nor anywhere else in the book. Nevertheless, the name Hormoserphus transgressus is technically valid, for its publication meets requirements of the Code (ICZN 1999). However, the mentioned characters—the upper face of the tubercle with wrinkling and a marginal carina—might refer only to clypeatus within the Townes’s concept of Hormoserphus . Thus, we propose treating H. transgressus as a junior synonym of Oxyserphus clypeatus (Ashmead, 1893) .

Figures

FIGURE 1. The head, frontal view (A, B, D), habitus, lateral view (C) and mesonotum, dorsal view (E) of some proctotrupids. A, Oxyserphus sp.; B, C, Oxyserphus clypeatus; D, E, Brachyserphus sp. Scale bars 0.1 mm in all figures except for 1 mm in Fig. 1 C. (Photo of Proctotrupes clypeatus Ashmead, 1893 holotype USNM 11711 [USNMENT 01223753] on Fig. 1 C courtesy E. J. Talamas)