J. HYM. RES. Vol. 4, 1995, pp. 285-293 The Family-Group Names of the Ichneumoninae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumionidae) David B. Wahl and W.R.M. MASONt (DBW) American Entomological Institute, 3005 SW 56th Ave., Gainesville, FL 32608, U.S.A.; (WRMM) Biological Resources Division, CLBRR, Agriculture Canada, Ottawa, Ontario KIA 0C6,Canada Abstract. — The family-group names in the subfamily Ichneumoninae are listed. Valid names are in accordance with the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature and differences with the names used by Townes are discussed. The historical background to Townes' rejection of certain Opinions of the International Commission for Zoological Nomenclature is examined; we conclude Townes was m error. The subfamily Ichneumoninae consti-tutes an exceedingly large and diverse group of parasitoid wasps, and is one of the most taxonomically and nomenclatur-ally confusing groups of ichneumonids. The genera w^ere never revised by Townes as part of his monographs of ich-neumonid subfamilies. His taxonomic ideas on the subfamily were recorded in the regional catalogs put out by him and his collaborators (Townes et al 1961; Townes et al 1965; Townes & Townes 1966; Townes & Townes 1973). These groupings and generic concepts are often at odds with those of other authors, most notably Heinrich, who published mono-graphs on the ichneumonines of the Ne-arctic, sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia. The situation is especially confusing because Townes based family-group names on the oldest included genus and refused to recognize the validity of cer-tain Opinions issued by the International Commission for Zoological Nomencla-ture (hereafter referred to as "the Com-mission") (Townes 1969). While Heinrich endeavored to use nomenclature in ac-cordance with the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (International Commission for Zoological Nomencla-ture 1985; hereafter referred to as "the Code"), he sometimes used junior syn-onyms of his ow^n authorship in prefer-ence to older names of other authors or failed to cite proper dates and authorship for family-group names (cf. Protichneu-monini Heinrich, 1934 vs. Heresiarchini Ashmead, 1900, and Ichneumonini Ash-mead, 1895 instead of Ichneumonini La-treille, 1802 (Heinrich 1977: 10, 57). TOWNES AND OPINIION 159 Townes (1957, 1969) wrote at length about his reasons for considering certain Opinions of the Commission invalid. The following summarizes Townes' general views: "There is, however, a spurious "Opinion of the International Commis-sion" (no. 178) that was published under the personal responsibility of Francis Hemming, without the knowledge or consent of the International Commission, and without an official vote of the Com-mission on the matter. Citations of this "Opinion" have been misleading. (Townes & Townes 1981). Most hymen-opterists, outside of ichneumonid spe-cialists, do not accept Townes' arguments (Day 1981 is an exception). Townes' ex-tensive ichneumonid work has lead many
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