Taxonomic history and review of the Förster genera of Platygastridae (Hymenoptera: Platygastroidea) Author Awad, Jessica 0F70AC80-70B4-4AED-BF6E-A191DF4F68BB State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart, Rosenstein 1, 70191 Stuttgart, Germany. FDACS-DPI, 1911 SW 34 St, Gainesville FL 32608, USA. jessica.awad@smns-bw.de Author Krogmann, Lars CF157CC1-326C-4BF9-A262-CBF9FF179B6E State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart, Rosenstein 1, 70191 Stuttgart, Germany. FDACS-DPI, 1911 SW 34 St, Gainesville FL 32608, USA. lars.krogmann@smns-bw.de Author Talamas, Elijah FDE12E40-BFCE-444A-AFAD-9A214A129345 elijah.talamas@fdacs.gov text European Journal of Taxonomy 2023 2023-06-15 875 1 1 46 http://dx.doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2023.875.2137 journal article 56102 10.5852/ejt.2023.875.2137 7d1475e5-5737-43a0-910d-c83a4cc6878c 2118-9773 8047251 6F308D64-2F63-454F-AF52-2F712A1DD2F5 Genus Synopeas Förster, 1856 Figs 20–21 Synopeas Förster, 1856: 108 , 114. Type species Synopeas inerme Thomson, 1859 by first subsequent inclusion. Ectadius Förster, 1856: 108 , 113. Type species Platygaster craterus Walker, 1835 by monotypy. Junior synonym of Synopeas Förster, 1856 . Polymecus Förster, 1856: 144 . Unnecessary replacement name for Ectadius Förster, 1856 . Sactogaster Förster, 1856: 108 , 113, 114. Type species Epimeces ventralis Westwood, 1833 by subsequent designation by Ashmead 1893: 284 . Dolichotrypes Crawford & Bradley, 1911: 124 , 125, pl. 8. Type species Dolichotrypes hopkinsi Crawford & Bradley, 1911 by monotypy and original desgination. Stosta Kozlov 1975a: 310–313 . Type species Stosta tosticola Kozlov, 1975 , by monotypy and original designation. Haustagaster Szabó, 1979: 178 , 179; 1981: 285, 286. Type species Haustagaster compressiventris Szabó, 1981 by monotypy. Fig. 19. Synopeas ventrale ( Westwood, 1833 ) , holotype, ♀ (OXUM 0004). Ectadius Förster, 1856 – Masner 1965: 140 . Polymecus Förster, 1856 – Masner 1965: 140 . Sactogaster Förster, 1856 – Kozlov 1978: 1200 . Dolichotrypes Crawford & Bradley, 1911 – Masner 1964: 149 , 150. Stosta Kozlov 1975 – Talamas & Buffington 2014: 112 , 113, figs 29–32. Haustagaster Szabó, 1979 – Buhl 2000: 415–419 . Remarks Förster’s description of Synopeas is rather minimal, consisting mainly of the mesoscutellum bearing a short wart- or awl-like spine. More recently, Jackson (1969) defined the genus by the fusion of T1 and T2 and the presence of a ventral pronotal pit. Our interpretation of Synopeas includes a highly variable shape of the mesoscutellar spine, from almost non-existent to very prominent ( Awad et al. 2021 ). The type species of Synopeas is Sy. inerme Thomson, 1859 (Muesebeck & Walkley 1856). Ashmead (1893 ; 1903 ) incorrectly listed Sy. prospectus Förster, 1861 and Sy. melampus Förster, 1861 as the type species, respectively. The type specimens of all three Förster species are in the NHMW. The collection also includes an original exemplar of Platygaster muticus Nees, 1834 , which was transferred to Synopeas by Thomson (1859) based on the description. The lectotype of this species is in OXUM, with only the metasoma and legs remaining, and these body parts were the basis for Graham (1988) considering it to be a species of Platygaster . The original exemplar in NHMW clearly belongs to Synopeas , and is thus of no use in providing additional information about the species. Platygaster muticus is essentially a nomen dubium because it cannot be recognized at the species level based on the remaining parts of the type and the original description, but it clearly does not belong in Synopeas , where it is currently placed, and we here transfer it to Platygaster .