Platypsyllidae Ritsema, 1869b

Peck, Stewart B. & Newton, Alfred F., 2017, An Annotated Catalog of the Leiodidae (Coleoptera) of the Nearctic Region (Continental North America North of Mexico), The Coleopterists Bulletin 71 (2), pp. 211-258 : 247

Platypsyllidae Ritsema, 1869b :[38] [stem: Platypsyll -].

Type genus: Platypsyllus Ritsema, 1869 .

Notes. Worldwide, the subfamily contains only four genera: Leptinus Müller with six Palearctic and three Nearctic species; Leptinillus Horn with two Nearctic species; Silphopsyllus Olsufiev with one Palearctic species; and Platypsyllus with one Holarctic species. The extreme flea- or louse-like modifications of Platypsyllus , for living in the fur of beaver, led to its original placement in a separate family and order. The platypsyllines may be allied with the Cholevinae and share derived family characters of Leiodidae , so they may be suitably placed as a subfamily of the Leiodidae (Lawrence and Newton 1982, 1995). The unusual biology and morphology of this small ectoparasitic subfamily has stimulated a disproportionate number of research publications.

Distribution. Holarctic.

= Leptinidae LeConte, 1872: 802 [stem: Leptin -]. Type genus: Leptinus Müller, 1817 .

Comment. This family-group name has been attributed to LeConte (1866) in the literature. However, Leconte (1866) did not give a name to the implied new taxon, and therefore it is not available (Newton and Thayer (1992).

=Achreioptera Westwood, 1869: 118 (as order; unavailable, not based on a genus; for Platypsyllus Westwood, 1869 , not Ritsema, 1869).

= Platypsyllidae LeConte, 1872: 799 . Type genus: Platypsyllus Ritsema, 1869 .