Abia nitens (Linnaeus, 1758)

Liston, Andrew, Mutanen, Marko, Heidemaa, Mikk, Blank, Stephan M., Kiljunen, Niina, Taeger, Andreas, Viitasaari, Matti, Vikberg, Veli, Wutke, Saskia & Prous, Marko, 2022, Taxonomy and nomenclature of some Fennoscandian Sawflies, with descriptions of two new species (Hymenoptera, Symphyta), Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift 69 (2), pp. 151-218 : 151

Abia nitens (Linnaeus, 1758)

Tenthredo nitens Linnaeus, 1758: 556. ♂ [because the conspicuous dark dorsal patches on abdomen are mentioned]. Syntypes (assumed). Type locality: Europe. Lectotype designated by Malaise and Benson (1934). LSUK. Images of the lectotype (LINN 2402) in dorsal and lateral view are available ( The Linnean Society of London 2022).

Tenthredo sericea Linnaeus, 1767: 921. Sex not stated [but probably female, because dark dorsal patches on abdomen are not mentioned]. Syntypes (assumed). Type locality: Leipzig. syn. nov.

Abia sericea : de Dalla Torre (1894), Konow (1905b), Enslin (1917), Liston and Späth (2006), Taeger et al. (2010).

Abia dorsalis Costa, 1859: 5-6. ♀. Holotype [not examined]. Type locality: Italy, Cape Miseno near Naples. syn. nov.

Notes.

Abia nitens was successively mentioned as occurring in Sweden by Fallén (1807), Dahlbom (1836), and Thomson (1871), who all placed Tenthredo sericea as its synonym. Thomson’s description of leg color indicates that he had before him specimens of the species called by Taeger (1998) A. sericea , or perhaps A. candens [not distinguished from the former in Thomson’s time]. Influenced by the continued, widespread use of the name Abia nitens in Scandinavian literature, Taeger et al. (2006) and ArtDatabanken (2015) included Sweden within the range of A. brevicornis [as A. nitens auct.]. In fact, no Swedish specimens of A. brevicornis have been located in the MZLU or NHRS collections, and there are no published records from other Fennoscandian countries. Abia brevicornis is restricted to extremely dry, summer-warm sites, where its larval hosts occur ( Scabiosa spp.) ( Liston and Späth 2006). Probably it has a strongly continental distribution: its most north-westerly known localities in Europe are in Central Germany, whereas it is not definitely known in France ( Noblecourt 2020), and a single old record from Spain needs confirmation. Although a presence of A. brevicornis in southern Sweden cannot be ruled out, we consider it likely that all references to A. nitens auct. in Sweden relate to either A. nitens [= Abia sericea ] or A. candens .