Key to the Afrotropical species of Heterischnus Heinrich, 1938 (modified from Rousse et al. 2013)

1. Frons transversely striate (A); head yellowish-orange (B)....................... H. krausi Schönitzer, 1999

– Frons not transversely striate, either punctate (a), or almost entirely polished (b); head black (a, b). ........................................................................................................................................................... 2

2. Frons polished with fine isolated punctures (A); occiput polished (B) ............................................... ............................................................................................................ H. olsoufieffi (Heinrich, 1938) – Frons punctate (a); occiput punctate (b) ............................................................................................ 3

3. Mesosoma uniformly orange (A, B); white median ring on flagellum present in females (B), absent in males ................................................................................ H. mfongosi Rousse & van Noort, 2013

– Mesosoma multi-colored, black, yellowish and testaceous (a, b); white median ring on flagellum absent in both sexes (b)........................................................................ H. africanus (Heinrich, 1936)