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
Author
Notton, David G.
text
Zootaxa
2010
2010-02-12
2358
1
24
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.2358.1.1
ef953f73-414f-4e8a-83a7-7ec993cb2bcf
1175-5326
275686
Psilus boscii
Jurine, 1807
, 318
.
Current status.
Inostemma boscii
?
Holotype
♀,
Switzerland
, Geneva (MNHN).
Holotype
by monotypy.
Lectotype
selection by
Masner (1964a)
invalid.
Labels.
Boscii
/ H. [?Hors de] Geneva, Jurine [?
holotype
♀].
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.