Pseudomalus auratus ( Linnaeus, 1758 )

Paukkunen, Juho, Rosa, Paolo, Soon, Villu, Johansson, Niklas & Ødegaard, Frode, 2014, Faunistic review of the cuckoo wasps of Fennoscandia, Denmark and the Baltic countries (Hymenoptera: Chrysididae), Zootaxa 3864 (1), pp. 1-67 : 11-12

8. Pseudomalus auratus ( Linnaeus, 1758)

Sphex aurata Linnaeus 1758: 572 . Holotype ♀; Europe (LSL).

Chrysis aurata: Linnaeus 1761: 414 , Julin 1792: 126, Dahlbom 1829: 16, Dahlbom 1831: 35, Zetterstedt 1840: 434.

Hedychrum auratum: Billberg 1820: 104 .

Omalus auratus: Dahlbom 1854: 28 , Thomson 1870: 102, Woldstedt 1875: 344, Siebke 1880: 73, Borries 1891: 90, Nerén 1892: 112, 116, Borries 1897: 93, 96, 157, 158, Strand 1898: 96, Frey 1917: 91–92, Trautmann 1927: 38, Jansson 1934: 287, Hellén 1935: 8, Benno 1950: 25, Valkeila 1962: 63, Wengris 1962: 8, Tumšs & Maršakovs 1970: 90, Erlandsson 1971: 88, Vikberg 1986b: 67, Nilsson 1988: 97, Nilsson 1991: 82, Doronin 1996: 18, Söderman & Vikberg 2003: 44, Kalniņš et al. 2007: 142, Valtonen 2007: 20, Karlsson 2008, Johansson 2009, Allearter.dk 2010.

Elampus auratus: Kawall 1864: 303 , Sahlberg 1910: 99, Aurivillius 1911: 6, Bischoff 1925: 306, Lang 1949: 120, Fahlander 1954: 254.

Ellampus auratus var. viridiventris Mocsáry 1890: 50 . Syntypes; Caucasus (ZMZ).

Ellampus auratus: Hellén 1920: 207 , Lundblad 1924: 24, Krogerus 1932: 124.

Ellampus auratus ab. viridiventris: Hellén 1920: 207.

Omalus auratus ab. viridiventris: Hellén 1935: 8.

Pseudomalus auratus: Hellqvist 1994: 33 , Berglind 2003: 13, Bergsten et al. 2004: 7, Soon 2004: 19, 45, Bergsten et al. 2005: 14, Hellqvist 2006: 37, Abenius & Hellqvist 2007: 66, Salminen 2007: 145, Humala 2008: 86, Hallin 2009: 10, Artsdatabanken 2010, Fritz & Larsson 2010: 151, Johansson 2010: 118, Orlovskytė et al. 2010: 147, Smissen 2010d: 393, Johansson 2011: 35, Ødegaard et al. 2011: 64, Hallin 2012, Ranta 2012: 32, Dyntaxa 2013, Johansson, in press.

Pseudomalus auratus auratus: Rosa & Soon 2012 .

Distribution. Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, Russian Fennoscandia.—Transpalearctic/Holarctic: from West Europe and North Africa to China, Korea and Japan. Introduced accidentally to North America ( Bohart & Kimsey 1982).

Remarks. The species is common in all Nordic and Baltic countries, and the northernmost records are from Lapland (north of 68° latitude). Hellén (1920, 1935) reported the form “ab. viridiventris ” from Finland, which differs from the normal form by possessing a green abdomen. Variation in abdominal colouration is common in this species, and different colourations can also result from different collection and preservation methods. The closely related species Pseudomalus triangulifer was not distinguished from P. auratus prior to the late 1950s in the Nordic and Baltic countries. Thus earlier published records of P. auratus could represent either species.