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BRITISH MU: The ichneumon-fly genus Banchus (Hymenoptera) in the Old World -^1 M. G. Fitton Department of Entomology, British Museum (Natural History), Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD Contents Synopsis 1 Introduction 1 Banchus Fabricius 3 Taxonomy 3 Biology and hosts 5 Systematic list of hosts 6 Nomenclatural summary 7 Format, material examined and depositories 8 Keys to species 11 Males 11 Females 12 Systematic section 14 Species excluded from Banchus 43 Acknowledgements 45 References 45 Index 59 Synopsis This paper provides the first comprehensive account of the genus Banchus (Ichneumonidae, Banchinae) in the Old World. Twenty-three species are recognized, described and keyed. Seven of the species are new. Geographical distributions and data on biology and hosts are summarized. Known hosts are Lepidoptera (mainly of the family Noctuidae) and Banchus species are known to play an important role in the control of some pest species in Europe and North America. The taxonomic treatment includes 11 new synonymies, one provisional synonymy, three new combinations, one revised combination, two revised statuses, three lectotype designations and four nomina dubia. Introduction Banchus has had a chequered history. Taxonomists found it difficult to assign to one of the five traditional subfamilies of the Ichneumonidae, sometimes placing it in the Ophioninae and sometimes in the Pimplinae. As originally defined by Fabricius (1798; 1804) the genus included members of the families Braconidae, Cephidae, Pompilidae, Proctotrupidae and Ibaliidae, as well as the Ichneumonidae. This exotic assortment was reduced by Gravenhorst (1829) to a grouping resembling the genus as understood at present. The main error in his treatment was the transposition of the sexes. Developments in the following 150 years were mainly concerned with description of new species, splitting the genus and faunistic studies. Much of this work was of poor quality; no one made a comprehensive study and those describing and keying species failed to appreciate all but the most superficial characters. A real advance in our understanding of the taxonomy of Banchus came only with publication of the revision of the Nearctic species by Townes & Townes in 1978. Bull. Br. Mus. nat. Hist. (Ent.) 51 (1): 1-60 Issued 25 July 1985

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The ichneumon fly genus Banchus (Hymenoptera) in the Old World

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