Chrysis, Rosa, P., 2019

Rosa, P., 2019, New species of chrysididae (Hymenoptera) from Central Asia, Russia and Iran. Part 1., Far Eastern Entomologist 377, pp. 1-25 : 22-25

Chrysis balthasari Rosa, nom. n.

Figs 44–48

Plexichrysis amoena Balthasar, 1957: 147, ♀, nom. paeocc. nec Chrysis amoena Eversmann,

1858.

SPECIMENS EXAMINED. Holotype of Plexichrysis amoena, ♀, Afghanistan:

Badakschan, Anjuman-Pass, 4200 m, 13.VIII 1952, leg. J. Klapperich [Prague].

Additional material. Tajikistan: E of Pamir , Zorkul lake, 1.VII 1976, leg. L. V. Pek

[Bishkek] ( Figs 44–45 ).

DIAGNOSIS. Balthasar (1957) described an unusual genus of Chrysidini , characterized by an amount of odd features, starting from the shape of the head, larger than wider, without TFC, with flattened and polished scapal basin. Balthasar (1957)

stated that at first sight Plexichrysis may be confused with an Elampini genus, but the examination of the tarsal claws excludes this possibility. When I first examined a female specimen from Tajikistan of this odd species I had the same feeling.

Moreover, I observed that Pl. amoena and C. leleji share most of the diagnostic characters described by Balthasar (1957), yet they clearly differ for the shape and punctation of the head: scapal basin is distinctly transversely microridged in C.

leleji (polished, somewhere with irregular wrinkles in Pl. amoena) and punctation is characterized by shallow and scattered punctures, with large, polished interstices

(vs. deeper and closer in Pl. amoena). Other shared characters, such as flattened body, shallow and sparse punctation, long erect setae on body and legs, are typical of Alpine species. These two species very likely belong to the same species group found at high altitudes, characterized, among the others, by toothed mandible,

toothless apical margin of T3, and microreticulation among metasomal punctures.

Kimsey & Bohart (1991) synonymized Pl. amoena with Spintharina tenellula

(Semenov, 1910), yet these two species are clearly separate by shape of the head,

body punctation, pit row, propodeal angles, etc. Pictures of Sp. tenellula are available in Rosa et al. (2017a) for comparison with pictures of the type of Pl.

amoena, deposited at the Museum of Natural History in Prague ( Figs 46–48 ).

Kimsey & Bohart’s (1991) synonymy is clearly misleading and no Spintharina matches the description of Pl. amoena. For this reason, waiting for future molecular systematic analysis, I propose here the new synonymy Chrysis Linnaeus, 1761 =

Plexichrysis Balthasar, 1957 , syn. nov. The type species Plexichrysis amoena

Balthasar, 1957 became a secondary homonym of Chrysis amoena Eversmann,

1858. However, C. amoena Eversmann is the type species of the genus

Pentachrysis Lichtenstein, 1876 , which I consider as a valid genus, until new molecular analyses will clarify its phylogenetic placement. For entomologists who follow Linsenmaier’s systematic, in which Pentachrysis is a subgenus of Chrysis , I propose the replacement name Chrysis balthasari Rosa, nom. n. for C. amoena

(Balthasar).

DESCRIPTION. Female. Body length 6.0 mm. OOL = 1.8 MOD; POL = 2.5

MOD; MS = 1.3 MOD; relative length of P:F1:F2:F3 = 1.0:1.2:0.8:0.8.

Head. TFC absent; scapal basin slightly hollowed, covering almost full face width, largely polished, medially irregularly wrinkled; laterally with tiny, sparse punctures close to eye; frons and vertex with small, shallow scattered punctures and polished interstices. Malar space longer than 1.0 MOD, slightly shorter than F1.

Genal carina faint to vaguely visible close to mandible joint. Mandible with subapical tooth.

view; 47 – head, dorsal view; 48 – metasoma, poetero-lateral view. Scale bar = 1.0 mm.

Mesosoma. Pronotum shortened and anteromedially slightly depressed; irregularly punctate, punctures shallow, ill-defined, small to medium-sized, laterally partly subcontiguous. Mesoscutum with scattered, shallow, punctures, and polished interstices,

with large polished areas, not transversely striate. Mesoscutellum largely polished,

with very scattered, small-sized punctures, denser towards axillary trough.

Metanotum anteromedially polished, laterally and posteriorly with denser, small punctures, subcontiguous towards axillary trough. Mesopleuron with faint episternal sulcus. Propodeal teeth unmodified.

chalybeia Rosa , sp. n.; 54 – C. vittoriorosai Rosa , sp. n.; 55 – C. niehuisi Rosa , sp. n.; 56 –

C. chlorochrysea Tarbinsky. Scale bar = 1.0 mm.

Metasoma. Punctation on T1 with small, dense, even punctures; posterior margin with a narrow, darker, and impunctate stripe. T2 anteromedially with similar pun-

taction, sparser to largely impunctate on posterior half, towards lateral and posterior margins; wrinkled microsculpture on interstices; impunctate stripe on posterior margin. T3 subovoid, with apical margin evenly arcuate, apically with narrow hyaline rim; pit row ill-defined, with shallow and small pits; post pit row area medially enlarged, as long as 1.0 MOD. Black spots on S2 subrectangular, medially separated by 2.0 MOD; sterna densely punctate, with reticulate microsculpture.

Coloration. Head and mesosoma light green (type) or dark blue with purplish reflections; metasoma golden-red (type), or depending on viewpoint, changing dorsally from red and golden to green and purple, laterally from red to purple. Body ventrally dark green. Scape and pedicel metallic green, flagellum black. Legs green; tarsomere brown. Tegulae dark with feeble metallic reflections. Wings hyaline with brown nervures.

Male. Unknown.

DISTRIBUTION. Afghanistan, Tajikistan.

Figures

Figs 44–48. Chrysis balthasari Rosa, nom. n. (46–48 – holotype of Plexichrysis amoena Balthasar, 1957), ♀. 44, 45, Tajkistan. 44, 46 – habitus, dorsal view; 45 – habitus, lateral