PROC. ENTOMOL. SOC. WASH. 94(2), 1992, pp. 273-275 THE IDENTITY OF TWO UNPLACED NEARCTIC TORYMIDAE (HYMENOPTERA) E. E. Grissell Systematic Entomology Laboratory, USDA, ARS, PSI, % U.S. National Museum, NHB 168, Washington, D.C. 20560. Abstract.— Two unplaced Nearctic taxa of Torymidae are recognized. A neotype is designated for the species Diomonis hiorhizae Ashmead (1887) based upon topotypic, reared specimens. The species is transferred to the genus Torymus and Torymus axillaris Ashmead (1894) is placed as a junior subjective synonym. Lochites punctata Ashmead (1887) is recognized as the male ofPlatykula alhihirta (Ashmead 1 887) and is synonymized under the latter name. Key Words: Nomenclature, identification, Torymidae In the 1979 "Catalog of Hymenoptera of America North of Mexico," two species of the family Torymidae were listed as un-placed taxa (Grissell 1979). One of the spe-cies, Diomorus biorhizae Ashmead, has been unrecognized since its description and its type has never been found. The other spe-cies, Lochites punctata Ashmead, is known only from its male type collected in Florida. During the course of preparing a generic reclassification of the Monodontomerinae-Toryminae complex I was able to establish the identity of both taxa. The purpose of this paper is to report the identity and cor-rect nomenclature of the only two Nearctic species of the family Torymidae yet re-maining as unplaced species. Torymus biorhizae Ashmead, New Combination Diomorus biorhizae Ashmead 1887: 186. Neotype female, herein designated, To-ronto, Ontario, Canada (USNM, exam-ined). Torymus axillaris X%\\mQ?id 1894: 333. Ho-lotype female, Morgantown, West Virgin-ia, USA (USNM, examined). New Synonymy. Diomorus biorhizae was described by Ashmead (1887) from one female collected in Toronto, Canada, and "bred from gall Biorhiza forticornis Walsh sent me by Mr. Wm Brodie" [sic]. The species has been un-recognized since its description and the type has never been located. Burks (1967: 250) commented without explanation that the species probably belonged to Torymus and that the type was "apparently lost." Since 1967 the species has been listed as "un-placed" (Burks 1967, Grissell 1979), and its generic placement was uncertain. Some years ago I located the type material of 2 presumed lost Brodie species in the Brodie Collection now housed in the United States National Collection (Grissell 1976). It occurred to me that the lost Ashmead type might also reside there since taxonomists sometimes deposit types of new species in the collection from which the specimens were borrowed. There are well over 15,000 specimens in the Brodie Collection, and un-fortunately most are identified only by a
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