Abstract

Platypodinae is a large, diverse, and economically important subfamily of ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), but its internal classification remains uncertain. The last comprehensive treatment by S. L. Wood from 1993 includes the only available key to genera, but it predates molecular phylogenetics, lacks illustrations, and its language is inaccessible to non-specialists. We update Wood’s key by including genera and taxonomic changes since 1993 and providing diagnoses and high-quality illustrations for all currently valid genera. Mecopelmus Blackman is excluded, having been shown to be a non-platypodine. Due to the extensive diversity and potential polyphyly in Megaplatypus Wood, Euplatypus Wood, Platypus Herbst, and Crossotarsus Chapuis, species groups within these genera are split into different parts of the key. Platypus is currently recognized as absent from South America, which resolves a longstanding biogeographic conundrum. We discuss the current state of Platypodinae systematics and suggest directions for future reclassification of the subfamily.

Fulltext

Illustrated keys and diagnoses to the Platypodinae (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) genera of the world