A PRELIMINARY APPROACH TO A REVISION OF THE AFROTROPICAL REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GENUS TROGASPIDIA ASHMEAD, 1899 (SENSU BISCHOFF, 1920) (HYMENOPTERA, MUTILLIDAE)

The taxonomy of the Afrotropical members of the genus Trogaspidia Ashm ead,l903 is highly complex. As a result of an extensive study of the m ales of the genus (due to the uniformity of their morphology, the fema les have only partly been taken into consideration), it was possible t o find significant correlations mainly in the morphology of the last a bdominal segment and the genitalia as an expression of phylogenetic re lationship. Most of the species described in Trogaspidia, as well as a number of new ones, have been examined, totalling 149 species (table 1). This made possible to group the Afrotropical species into the foll owing 6 subgenera and 3 genera (the total number of examined species i s given in brackets): subgenera Iniflatispidia (5), Lobotropidia (4), Arcuatotropidia (2), Chilotropidia (18), Acutitropidia (29), Trogaspid ia s. str. (33), genera Tuberocoxotilla Nonveiller, 1980 (2), Amblotro pidia (36) and Curvitropidia (3). Some species of Trogaspidia sensu Bi schoff were formerly transferred to the genera Dentotilla Nonveiller,l 977 (10), and Carinotilla Nonveiller,l973 (1); 4 species remained uncl assified. including the only Madagascan species. The author did not ha ve the opportunity to examine the types of 12 species. It seems that t he males of the genus Trogaspidia in other zoogeographical regions do not have the same combination of characters (external morphology and m ale genitalia) as the Afrotropical species.