Plutofoenus Kieffer 1911
Creators: name: Macedo, Antonio Carlos Cruz
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2009
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Gasteruptiidae
Plutofoenus

description: Plutofoenus Kieffer, 1911 (revalidated)
(Figs. 3, 6e, 6i, 7e, 9b, 11a–f, 12a–c, 13c–e, 14b–c, 15)
Plutofoenus Kieffer, 1911: 177 (designated in the key); Kieffer, 1912: 191 (in key), 221 (diagnosis); Hedicke, 1939: 42 (catalog); De Santis, 1967: 95 (catalog); Crosskey, 1962: 397 –398 (synonymized under Gasteruption).
Type species. Gasteruption paraguayense Schrottky, 1906. Designated by monotypy. Description. Body length between 15.0–19.0 mm (exclusive of ovipositor).
Head. Subrectangular in dorsal view (Figs. 11 a, 11c); mandible in frontal view with apex wide (Fig. 6 i); malar space long, fused with gena (Figs. 11 b, 11d, 11f); clypeus with a ridge at anterior margin (Fig. 6e); clypeus and face with longitudinal striae (Fig. 6e); occipital margin simple (Figs. 11 a, 11c).
Mesosoma. Pronotum with three lobes weakly defined (Figs. 13 c-d); pronotal process present (Figs. 13 c- e); propleuron simple anteriorly; mesonotum truncate in lateral view (Figs. 13 c-e); mesoscutum uniformly sculptured, longer than wide, and almost forming a unique plane; with two lobes separated by depressed notauli (Figs. 12 a-c); parapsides distinct; mesepimeron entirely concave (Figs. 13 c-e); fore and middle tibiae with a white stripe from base to apex; hind tibia white basally; metacoxa with fine transversal striae at posterior portion (Fig. 14 b); median propodeal carina convex and percurrent (Figs. 14 b-c); fore wing jugal lobe present; discal cell present, subtrapezoidal (Fig. 7 e), vein r–m present, not reaching vein 2-m, vein 2–M tubular in first 1/3 and nebulous in remaining portion (Fig. 3a); hind wing with 3–6 equidistant hamuli (Fig. 3a).
Metasoma. First metasomal tergum with edges separate, not concealing first sternum (Fig. 9 b); female subgenital sternum with a slitlikeY-shaped notch (as Fig. 10 a); ovipositor longer than metasoma (Fig. 3).
Distribution. South America: Argentina, Paraguay, southern Brazil (Fig. 15). The species occur between 23ºS and 33ºS in subtropical areas, with substantial rainfall in the eastern portions, becoming semiarid in the western and southern portions. This distribution is very similar to the distribution of the only two species of Hyptiogastrinae in the Neotropical Region (Jennings and Austin 1997a). However, the species are very rare and additional collections are needed to confirm this pattern. At least one species seems to occur in the eastern Andean slopes (P. e d w a rd s i).
Biology. Unknown.
Comments. This genus was defined by Kieffer (1911) to accommodate a single species, P. paraguayensis (Schrottky), based only on the presence of the partially developed vein r-m, a character shown here to be plesiomorphic. Crosskey (1962) synonymized Plutofoenus under Gasteruption. However, Plutofoenus is here revalidated because its species share nine synapomorphies (fully explained in the cladistic analysis section). Plutofoenus edwardsi Turner was the only other described species in this genus (Turner 1927). Gasteruption chaeturum Schletterer is here transferred to Plutofoenus.
FIGURE 3. Plutofoenus habitus. a: P. e d w a rd s i; b: P. c h a e t u r u s; c: P. e d w a rd s i (without ovipositor sheath); d: P. paraguayensis. Numbers indicate characters and respective synapomorphic states (within brackets).
description: Published as part of Macedo, Antonio Carlos Cruz, 2009, Generic classification for the Gasteruptiinae (Hymenoptera: Gasteruptiidae) based on a cladistic analysis, with the description of two new Neotropical genera and the revalidation of Plutofoenus Kieffer, pp. 1-32 in Zootaxa 2075 on pages 10-11, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.187219