Genus Sphyracephala Say, 1828

Sphyracephala Say, 1828: plate 52. Osten Sacken 1882: 234 (morphology, catalogue); Brunetti 1907: 163 (Oriental, clustering); Bezzi 1922: 69 (world catalogue); Sen 1921: 33 (Oriental, ecology); Curran 1928: 274 (Afrotropical); Collart 1954: 329 (Afrotropical); Hennig 1941 a: 59, 1941 b: 3 (Palaearctic, morphology), 1965: 54 (phylogeny); Séguy 1955: 1123 (Afrotropical); Descamps 1957: 19 (Afrotropical, biology); van Bruggen 1961: 425 (Afrotropical); Lavigne 1962: 5 (Nearctic, biology); Steyskal 1972: 13 (world catalogue), 1977: 35 (Oriental catalogue); Hochberg-Stasny 1985: 1 (Nearctic, biology); Peterson 1987: 785 (Nearctic, morphology); Feijen 1989: 66 (Nearctic and world, morphology); Papp et al. 1997: 137 (Palaearctic); Hilger 2000: 335 (Palaearctic, morphology); Meier and Hilger 2000: 6 (egg morphology); Meier and Baker 2002: 329 (phylogeny); O’Hara et al. 2011: 96, 191 (synonyms); Feijen et al. 2017: 76 (Arabian Peninsula, biogeography, clustering); Nartshuk 2017: 128 (Palaearctic); Feijen and Feijen 2019: 39 (Oriental); Jackson 2019: suppl. figs 1, 2 (phylogeny).

Sphryracephala, Westwood 1848: 37, pl. 18 fig. 3. Portschinsky 1871: 287; Bigot 1874: 115; Sen 1921: 33. (Error for Sphyracephala).

Hexechopsis Rondani, 1875: 442, type-species Diopsis beccarii Rondani, 1873, by original designation and monotypy. Osten Sacken 1882: 235; Brunetti 1907: 163; Eggers 1916: 27; 1925: 482; Bezzi 1922: 71 (as Hexecopsis); Shillito 1940: 148; Hennig 1941 b: 5; Séguy 1949: 74; van Bruggen 1961: 425; Steyskal 1972: 13; Cogan and Shillito 1980: 584; Feijen 1989: 66; Feijen et al. 2017: 76.

Zygocephala Rondani, 1875: 443, type-species Diopsis hearseiana Westwood, 1845, by original designation and monotypy (as Diopsis hearsejana (Wiedemann)) . Osten Sacken 1882: 235 (implicitly); Brunetti 1907: 163; Shillito 1940: 148; van Bruggen 1961: 425; Steyskal 1972: 13, 1977: 35; Feijen 1989: 66; Feijen and Feijen 2019: 40.

Pseudodiopsis Hendel, 1917: 33, type-species Sphyracephala cothurnata Bigot, 1874, by original designation and monotypy. Malloch 1938: 437; Shillito 1940: 150; Hennig 1965: 62 (in Diopsini); Steyskal 1972: 12 (in Sphyracephalini); Feijen 1989: 66 (as synonym of Sphyracephala); Burkhardt and de la Motte 1996: 173; Baker 1999: 24, figs 1, 2 (as synonym); Meier and Hilger 2000: 32 (as synonym); Baker et al. 2001: 93, fig. 1; Andersen 2001: 138; Meier and Baker 2002: 334; Jackson 2019: suppl. fig. 1.

Sphyrocephala [sic]: Curran 1934: 358. Flint 1956: 44; Stone 1980: 17.

Microdiopsis Curran, 1934: 359, type-species Sphyracephala cothurnata Bigot, 1874, by original designation and monotypy. Curran 1934: 495 (in the corrections); Malloch 1938: 437; Shillito 1940: 148; Steyskal 1972: 12; Arnaud and Owen 1981: 144.

Sphracephala [sic]: Nayar and Tandon 1962 a: 113, 1962 b: 132, 1963: 1; Singh et al. 1962: 79.

Type species.

Diopsis brevicornis Say, 1817: 23, by monotypy.

Key to the Sphyracephala

Although this revision concentrates on the Afrotropical and Palaearctic Sphyracephala, the key covers all described species. It should be stressed that in the Oriental and Australasian Regions some species remain to be described. Sphyracephala detrahens and S. bipunctipennis also need to be redescribed, so couplet 8 will then be updated and extended.