Euchroeus Latreille, 1809

Rosa, P., Halada, M. & Proshchalykin, M. Yu., 2022, A new species of Euchroeus Latreille, 1809 (Hymenoptera, Chrysididae) from Mongolia, with taxonomic notes on Central Asian species, Far Eastern Entomologist 467, pp. 1-10 : 2-3

Genus Euchroeus Latreille, 1809

Euchroeus Latreille, 1809: 49 .

Type species: Chrysis purpurata Fabricius, 1787: 283 [=

Euchroeus purpuratus (Fabricius, 1787)], by monotypy.

The genus Euchroeus is undoubtedly the most striking in the family Chrysididae , including species with noticeably chromatic dimorphism. They are middle sized to large and robust species, up to 11 mm in length. The head has a well developed transversal frontal carina, often with branches directed to mid-ocellus; the scapal basin has dense and appressed hairs; the compound eyes are large and bulging; the clypeus is elongated as well as the mouthparts, protruding ventrally. The pronotum bears small antero-lateral teeth; the mesoscutum and scutellum are coarsely punctate; the mesopleuron ventrally is characterized by two small teeth; the wings have apex of radial sector distant more than 2 × MOD from anterior wing margin. The metasoma has tergum III with a marked swelling prior to pit row; its posterior margin is multidentate, with irregular teeth of variable number and size.

The history of this genus name in Central Asia was confused and discussed in previous articles (Pavesi & Strumia, 1997; Rosa et al., 2017b). In fact, at least three names were used to assign members of this genus, Brugmoia Radoszkowski, 1877 , Pseudochrysis Semenow, 1891 , Euchroeus Latreille, 1809 and Euchroeus was also used as subgenus of Spinolia Dahlbom, 1854 . In particular, Kimsey & Bohart (1991) considered Euchroeus Latreille, 1809 a synonym of Chrysis Linnaeus, 1761 due to a misidentification of the type species, Chrysis purpurata Fabricius, 1787 (Pavesi & Strumia, 1997). Kimsey (1988) proposed the name Brugmoia Radoszkowski, 1877 as the first available name and Tarbinsky (2000) followed this interpretation for the revision of the Central Asian species. However, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature ( ICZN, 1998, Opinion 1906) set aside the lectotype of Chrysis purpurata designated by Kimsey (1988), conserved the name Euchroeus Latreille, 1809 on the Official List of Generic Names in Zoology and conserved the name Chrysis purpurata Fabricius, 1787 [currently Euchroeus purpuratus (Fabricius, 1787)] on the Official List of Specific Names in Zoology. Consequently, the generic name Brugmoia Radoszkowski has to be considered a synonym of the generic name Euchroeus Latreille.