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Issue: Vol. 5584 No. 2: 7 Feb. 2025
Type: Article
Published: 2025-02-07
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5584.2.4
Page range: 228-242
Abstract views: 576
PDF downloaded: 32

HymenoKeys, an interactive matrix keys system to identify Hymenoptera families and Ichneumonidae subfamilies

ANSES; Unité Entomologie et Botanique; 755 avenue du campus Agropolis CS 30016 FR-34988 Montferrier-sur Lez Cedex
Hymenoptera Diagnostics Taxonomy Identification XPer3

Abstract

The identification of higher taxa of Hymenoptera is often challenging. It relies on dichotomous keys, very few of them covering the whole order. Moreover, Hymenoptera taxonomy has greatly changed during the past 30 years, making these few tools outdated. To my knowledge, no geographically and taxonomically comprehensive interactive key exists for the order. To address this, Hymenokeys, a set of interactive keys developed on the XPer3 platform, is presented and its expected outputs discussed. It includes all currently described hymenopteran families and the subfamilies of Ichneumonidae. The ambition is for this to be an open access, user-friendly, reliable and evolving tool for diagnosticians, to complement the existing classical dichotomous keys.

 

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