Galesus walkeri Kieffer, 1907: 301

Notton, David G., 2014, A catalogue of the types of Diapriinae (Hymenoptera, Diapriidae) at the Natural History Museum, London, European Journal of Taxonomy 75, pp. 1-123 : 49

Galesus walkeri Kieffer, 1907: 301 .

Valid name

Psilus fuscipennis (Curtis, 1831) syn. nov.

Summary of types

Lectotype ♂, BMNH number 9.919, here designated.

Primary type data

Alten/ Finnmark / F.Walker/ Feb.37/ 201.

Type locality

Noted as “wohl England ”, i.e., probably from England, but actually from Norway, Finnmark, Alta.

Remarks

This species was described from an unspecified number of males, said to be in the British Museum by Kieffer. One male specimen was found which agreed with the description, except that Kieffer says the collector was J. Walker, whereas the label says “F. Walker” although the “F.” is written like a “J.” Kieffer says the specimens were probably from England, suggesting that the label was difficult to read and that he assumed the specimen(s) was English because it was collected by Walker. The label on the type is difficult to read but actually says “Alten, Finnmark”, no doubt a specimen collected by Francis Walker on his 1836-7 tour of Scandinavia ( Christy & Walker 1837). The close agreement with the description, Kieffer’s mistake in reading the “J.” for “F.” because of the peculiar style of writing and the near illegibility of the label which caused him to guess the locality (erroneously) convince me that this is a type. This specimen belongs to Psilus fuscipennis following the interpretation of Nixon (1980) and the two species are synonymized here. A lectotype is designated to stabilise the synonymy. The lectotype is mounted on a card and is missing the left fore leg and the tips of three tarsi.