Matskási István (szerk.): A Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum évkönyve 96. (Budapest 2004)

Buhl, P. N.: Platygastridae (Hymenoptera) from Mongolia

ANNALES HISTORICO-NATURALES MUSEI NATIONALIS HUNGARICI Volume 96 Budapest, 2004 pp. 115-152. Platygastridae (Hymenoptera) from Mongolia* P. N. BUHL Troldh0jvej 3, DK-3310 0lsted, Denmark E-mail: pnbiihl@zmiic.ku.dk Abstract - About 95 species of Platygastridae are recorded from Mongolia. The following 23 species are described as new to science: Amblyaspis kaszabi. Inostemma intermedium, I. kaszabi, I. kerulense, I. lanceolatum, I. mongolicum, Platygaster asiatica, P. brevipetiolata, P. crenulata, P. gaia, P. kaszabi, P. mongolica, P. oviventris, P. striatipleura, P. zavchanensis, Synopeas alatus, S. cryptus, S. kaszabi, S. mongoliens, S. neglectus, S. striatitergitis, S. subtilis, and S. vulgaris. With 92 figures. Key words - Hymenoptera, Platygastridae, Amblyaspis, Inostemma, Synopeas, Platygaster, new species, Mongolia. INTRODUCTION In the years 1963-1968 the late Hungarian coleopterist, Dr. Z. KASZAB, collected a large amount of insects in Mongolia, among them the about 620 specimens of Platygastridae treated in the present paper. When species are so difficult to separate as in Platygastridae, it is always a problem on the basis of morphospecies to decide when to name species as new to science, to assign them to already known species, or as questionable. As most species are described from Western Europe, a fürther problem with regard to Mongolian species is that geographic variation comes into the picture. In the present work minor differences in colour, sculpture etc. will not be regarded as sufficient to justify species rank, though very possibly there are biological differences between the widely separated populations of Europe and Mongolia. However, to prevent an inflation of new names only clearly differentiated morphological entities are named as new, and to give a fairly clear idea of the diversity as many species as possible are placed under already existing names (when the alternative would be no name), though often with a question mark and an explanation. However, it is impossible to give purely objective criteria for determinations, especially with regard to poorly * Results of the Zoological Explorations by Dr. Z. KASZAB in Mongolia. No. 508.