Revisiting Brues (1940): Advancing the Taxonomy of Eocene Platygastroidea

The description of platygastroid wasps in Baltic amber by Brues (1940) was the first major work on the superfamily's fossil fauna. Some of his taxa were later treated by Masner et al. (2007) and Johnson et al. (2008a) but most have yet to be analyzed in a modern context. Images of type material made available by Perez de la Fuente et al. (2019), the Museum of Comparative Zoology, and examination of additional specimens have enabled further advancement with these specimens. Brachyscelio cephalotes Brues is redescribed. Brachyscelio and Neuroscelio are diagnosed based on a comparison of fossil and extant material. Galloscelio pumilio Nel and Prokop is placed in Neuroscelionidae and treated as a nomen dubium. Fidiobia angulipennis (Brues) new combination is transferred from Trachelopteron Brues new synonym, making Trachelopteron a junior synonym of Fidiobia Ashmead. Fidiobia microscopica Buhl new synonym and Platystasius gracilis Kononova and Simutnik new synonym are treated as conspecific with F. angulipennis. Fidiobia antiquita Talamas and Popovici new species and F. reptans Talamas, Popovici and Bremer new species are described from female specimens in Baltic amber. Parabaeus collaris Brues new combination is transferred from Aneurobaeus Kieffer. Nyleta doddi (Brues) new combination is transferred from Baryconus Förster. Nyleta selene (Nixon) new combination is transferred from Opisthacantha Ashmead, making Vardhana Nixon new synonym a junior synonym of Nyleta Dodd. Platyscelio depressus (Brues) new combination is transferred from Proplatyscelio Brues new synonym, making Proplatyscelio a junior synonym of Platyscelio Kieffer.