Stilbum cyanurum (Forster, 1771)

(Figs 78 A–78B)

Chrysis cyanura Forster, 1771: 89 . Holotype ♂; Spain (NHMUK).

Chrysis splendida Fabricius, 1775: Donovan 1800 –1804: 115 (descr. Tamil Nadu: Tranquebar [= Tharangambadi]).

Stilbum cyanurum: Bingham 1903: 431 (key), 433–434 (descr., Sikhim [= Sikkim], the variety amethystinum is common and the true Stilbum cyanurum is not seen in India), 433 (fig. 151); Bingham 1908: 349 (Bihar: Purneah [= Purnia]); Suresh et al. 1999: 2 (Kerala: Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary), tab. 1; Mathew et al. 1998: 109 (Kerala: Silent Valley, Nelliampathy, Sholayar, Parambikulam); Mathew 2004: 219 (cat., Kerala); Anbalagan et al 2015: 102 (cat., Tamil Nadu); Tamil Nadu Thirupathisaram, Kanyakumari District).

Stilbum splendidum: du Buysson 1896b: 478 (West Bengal: Calcutta [= Kolkata]; Maharashtra: Poona [= Pune]; Gujarat: Surat, S Guzerat [= S Gujarat]; Chhattisgarh: Raipur; Tamil Nadu: Pondichery; Karnataka: Mysore), pl. III (figs 11, 12), pl. V (fig. 8).

Stilbum splendidum var. Lereillei (sic) du Buysson, 1896a: 678. Syntypes, India: Maharashtra: Bombay [= Mumbai] (MNHN). Emendated into leveillei by Kimsey & Bohart 1991: 567.

Stilbum cyanurum splendidum Spinola: Jonathan et al. 1977: 87 (India).

Stilbum sp. (superbum): Thakkar & Parikh 2018: 23 (cat., Gujarat).

Material examined. 1 ♂, Maharashtra: Bombay [= Mumbai], 23–28.x.1929 ; 1 ♂, Maharastra, 6mi. E Bhandara, 200m, 30.Ii.1962, leg. E.S. Ross & D.Q. Cavagnaro ; 1 ♀, Tamil Nadu, Pennadam, 1932; 1 ♀, Tamil Nadu, Set- tipatti, 17.v.1974, leg. W. Perraudin; 1 ♀, idem, 16.v.1975; 1 ♀, idem, 18.viii.1975; 1 ♀, idem, 21.viii.1975; 1 ♀, idem, 30.viii.1975; 5 ♂, 1 ♀, idem, 17.–18.x.1975; 1 ♀, idem, 19.x.1975; 1 ♀, idem, 2.vi.1976; 1 ♀, Tamil Nadu, Omalur, Settipatti, 9.x.1975, leg. W. Perraudin ; 1 ♀, idem, 10.x.1975; 1 ♀, idem, 18.xi.1975; 1 ♀, idem, 3.xii.1975; 1 ♀, idem, 22.ii.1976; 1 ♀, idem, 29.iii.1976; 4 ♀, idem, iii.1978; 1 ♀, Tamil Nadu, Nagercoil, 50ft, 26.iii.1962, leg. E.S. Ross & D.Q. Cavagnaro ; 1 ♀, Tamil Nadu, Coimbatore, ix.1971 (PRC) ; 2 ♀, Pondicherry, Karaikal, ii.1983, leg. Nathan (PRC); 1 ♀, idem, xi.1987, leg. Nathan (PRC); 1 ♀, idem, x.1980 (PRC); 1 ♀, Tamil Nadu, Tanjore [= Thanjavur], 21.iv.1938, leg. D.Y. Nedung ; 1 ♀, Uttar Pradesh, Agra, 6.–8.xi.1929 ; 1 ♀, Tamil Nadu, Pudukkottai, x.1984, leg. Nathan (PRC) ; all examined specimens are deposited at MNLU.

Distribution. India (Bihar; Chhattisgarh; Gujarat; Karnataka; Kerala; Maharashtra; Sikkim; Tamil Nadu; Uttar Pradesh; West Bengal). Subcosmopolitan: Afrotropical, Australian, Oriental, Palaearctic, in tropics and warm temperate areas (Kimsey & Bohart 1991).

Genus Trichrysis Lichtenstein, 1876

Trichrysis Lichtenstein, 1876: 27 (as subgenus of Chrysis Linnaeus, 1761).

Type species: Sphex cyanea Linnaeus, 1758: 572 [= Trichrysis cyanea (Linnaeus, 1758)]. Monotypic.