Chrysis klio Balthasar, 1953 stat. resurr.*

(Fig. 4A–4E)

Chrysis klio Balthasar, 1953: 257 . Holotype ♂; Palestine: Jerusalem [not holotype ♀ from Afghanistan, Schau, Kokscha-Tal, Badakschar Mts.] (NMPC) ( varidens group).

Chrysis (Chrysogona) klio: Linsenmaier 1987: 146 (diagnosis).

Synonym of Chrysis varidens Abeille de Perrin, 1878 according to Kimsey & Bohart 1991: 474.

Material examined. N. Lebanon: Arz Bcharre, 1900 m, 14.vii.2019, 1♂, leg. X. Van achter, det. P. Rosa (PRC) . Caught in a yellow pan trap.

Distribution. * Lebanon. Palestine (Balthasar 1953).

Remarks. Chrysis klio Balthasar was not included in Linsenmaier’s (1959) revision of the European species and in his supplement (1968). It was taken into consideration only later (Linsenmaier 1987), when the author provided a diagnostic description. Kimsey & Bohart (1991) synonymised it with Chrysis varidens Abeille de Perrin, 1878 . We checked Balthasar’s type at MHNP (Figs 4A–4D), and it matches Balthasar’s (1953) and Linsenmaier’s (1987) descriptions, with less contrasting colouring, and with the face, mesopleura, tegula and propodeum green to greenish-gold instead of deep blue. Besides the colour, the two most important diagnostic characters that separate the two species are: (i) the shape of the apical margin of the third metasomal tergum, with four well-formed and visible teeth (Fig. 4D) (teeth usually like undulations in the typical Chrysis varidens (Fig. 4F)); (ii) the shape of the male genital capsule, in particular the different shape of the gonocoxa, which is deeply indented between the base of the gonostylus and the upper gonocoxal margin (Fig. 4E).

We here resurrect Chrysis klio Balthasar, 1953 stat. resurr. from the previous synonymy with Chrysis varidens, based on the above listed characters.