Platyplectrus Ferriere
Creators: name: Yefremova, Zoya A.
name: Copeland, Robert S.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Eulophidae
Platyplectrus

description: Genus Platyplectrus Ferrière
Platyplectrus Ferrière, 1941: 20.
Type species: Platyplectrus natadae (Ferrière).
Autoplectrus Gadd, 1945: 331–337.
Type species: Autoplectrus taprobanes Gadd by monotypy. Synonymized by Bouček, 1988: 634.
Diagnosis. Propodeum not areolate, with one strong median carina; scutellum with sublateral grooves straight, or curved inwards sub-basally, or curved inwards to meet with each other; notauli distinct and complete, reaching scuto-scutellar suture. Hind legs always with two long tibial spurs, the longest spur reaching the halfway point of the second tarsal segment.
Identification. Ferrière (1941) published a key to African species of Platyplectrus and Euplectromorpha (mostly synonymized with genus Platyplectrus). Keys are also available to the 8 species of Platyplectrus species of Sri Lanka (Wijesekara &Schauff 1994), 13 species in China (Zhu and Huang 2004), and 16 species in India (Narendran 2011).
The following key to both sexes includes 18 species of Platyplectrus.
Key to species of Platyplectrus in Kenya
(Females+males)
1. Petiole as long as wide or shorter (transverse) (e.g. Fig. 53).................................................... 2
- Petiole 2.6–3.0× as long as wide (Figs 31, 32)....................................... P. meruensis (Delucchi) (♀, ♁)
2. Body mostly yellow or reddish........................................................................... 3
- Body mostly dark brown or black........................................................................ 9
3. Face with dark brown or black scrobes (Figs 37, 54).......................................................... 4
- Face without dark brown or black scrobes (Fig. 30).......................................................... 6
4. Mesoscutum and scutellum without longitudinal dark stripe, propodeum black (Fig. 53)........ P. nyanzaensis sp. nov. (♀)
- Mesoscutum and/or scutellum with complete or interrupted longitudinal dark stripe, propodeum yellow (Fig. 17)......... 5
5. F4 subquadrate (Fig. 18), scutellum rugose, mesoscutum and scutellum with very wide, black, longitudinal bands (Fig. 17).............................................................................. P. capensis (Ferrière) (♀, ♁)
- F4 not subquadrate, scutellum finely reticulate or punctate, mesoscutum and scutellum with narrow, orange-brown longitudinal bands, that of the scutellum incomplete (Fig. 36)....................................... P. mrimaensis sp. nov. (♀)
6. Mesoscutum and scutellum completely yellow-orange (Fig. 28).......................... P. marenjeensis sp. nov. (♀)
- Mesoscutum and/or scutellum with dark pattern............................................................. 7
7. Mesoscutum orange-yellow with narrow, medial, dark orange band. Scutellum with weak, diffuse orange spot on anterior half (Fig. 22)....................................................................... P. kayaensis sp. nov. (♀, ♁)
- Mesoscutum with robust black bands on mesoscutum and scutellum............................................. 8
8. Mesoscutum with medial dark-brown stripe overlaying furrow, with carina-like process within the furrow (Fig. 61), F1 1.3× as long as F2, clava 2.4× as long as F4.................................................... P. ornatus (Ferrier) (♀)
- Mesoscutum with medial dark-brown stripe, but lacking longitudinal furrow (Fig. 66), F1=F2, F3=F4, clava 1.25× as long as F4.......................................................................... P. pseudoornatus sp. nov. (♀)
9. All coxae and femora black (Fig. 19)............................................... P. desertus Yefremova (♀, ♁)
- Only hind coxae black (Fig. 11)......................................................................... 10
10. Clava white, different colour than flagellomeres 1–4 (Figs 9–12)......................... P. albiclavatus sp. nov. (♀, ♁)
- Clava same colour as flagellomeres 1–4.................................................................. 11
11. Eyes densely covered with setae (Fig. 74)................................................................. 12
- Eyes asetose or weakly hairy........................................................................... 13
12. Scutellum strongly transversely strigose (Fig. 75)....................................... P. striolatus (Ferrière) (♀)
- Scutellum shagreened........................................................... P. kiambuensis (Ferrière) (♀)
13. Mesoscutum and scutellum with yellow or reddish-orange maculae............................................. 14
- Mesoscutum and scutellum completely dark............................................................... 15
14. Head mostly yellow-white, clypeus and gena yellow, dark band on vertex and frons, eyes without orbital lines (Figs 42, 44)........................................................................... P. nigroflaveatus Yefremova (♀)
- Head mostly black, clypeus and gena dark brown, eyes with dark reddish-orange orbital lines (Figs 70–71)......................................................................................... P. pyrrhomaculatus sp. nov. (♀)
15. F1–F4 subquadrate (Fig. 15)...................................................... P. brevicornis (Ferrière) (♀)
- F1 not subquadrate, F2–F4 not transverse................................................................. 16
16. Scutellum with lateral and posterior grooves widely foveate (Fig. 58)................... P. obscuratus (Ferrière) (♀, ♁)
- Scutellum without foveate lateral and posterior grooves...................................................... 17
17. Scutellum 1.5× as long as wide, strongly reticulate, F1 1.8–2.0× as long as wide (Figs 38, 40)................................................................................................... P. ngangaoensis sp. nov. (♀, ♁)
- Scutellum 1.2× as long as wide, shagreened, F1 2.8–3.0× as long as wide (Figs 50, 51).... P. nyambeneensis sp. nov. (♀, ♁)
description: Published as part of Yefremova, Zoya A. & Copeland, Robert S., 2023, African Platyplectrus Ferrière (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) from Kenya, with description of nine new species, pp. 355-384 in Zootaxa 5360 (3) on pages 358-359, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5360.3.2, http://zenodo.org/record/10088533