See text Ploceus is a genus of birds in the weaver family, Ploceidae.

In the first group, the widowbirds and bishops (genus Euplectes) are sister to a clade in which the genera Foudia and Quelea are closest relatives and which further includes the Asiatic species of Ploceus, i.e. P. manyar, P. philippinus, P. benghalensis, P. megarhynchus, (and P. hypoxanthus, although untested).

These two species could in future be assigned to the genus Nelicurvius that was erected by Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1850, but which was merged with Ploceus later on.

[7][8] Provided that the other genera that have not been proposed to be merged into an extended "Malimbus" are monophyletic, the following (incomplete) tree expresses current insights.

P. megarhynchus P. benghalensis P. manyar P. philippinus genus Foudia genus Quelea genus Euplectes P. nelicourvi P. sakalava Malimbus malimbicus Malimbus nitens Malimbus cassini Malimbus racheliae Anaplectes rubiceps P. bicolor Malimbus rubricollis P. albinucha P. insignis P. olivaceiceps P. xanthops P. velatus P. subaureus P. nigricollis P. ocularis P. pelzelni P. luteolus P. melanogaster P. alienus P. vitellinus P. rubiginosus P. aurantius P. bertrandi P. baglafecht P. nigerrimus P. weynsi P. cucullatus P. castaneiceps P. xanthopterus P. heuglini P. taeniopterus P. melanocephalus P. castanops The genus contains 67 species.