Chrysis illigeri Wesmael, 1839

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 : 29-30

35. Chrysis illigeri Wesmael, 1839

Chrysis succincta [part.]: Olivier 1790: 675, Dahlbom 1829: 10, Dahlbom 1831: 29, Zetterstedt 1840: 434, Boheman 1851: 185, Dahlbom 1854: 269, Thomson 1870: 107, Woldstedt 1875: 345, Siebke 1880: 75, Westerlund 1893: 30, Strand 1898: 97, Sahlberg 1910: 97, Aurivillius 1911: 11, Trautmann 1927: 159, Trautmann 1930: 504, Jansson 1934: 287, Benno 1950: 43, Balthasar 1954: 215, Fahlander 1954: 254, Hedström 1989: 154.

Chrysis illigeri Wesmael 1839: 176 . Syntypes ♂ ♀; Belgium (IRSNB, MSNG) (examined). Berglind 2003: 13, Söderman & Vikberg 2003: 45, Abenius & Larsson 2004 (as C. illegeri ), Soon 2004: 21, 46, Abenius & Larsson 2005, Hellqvist 2006: 37, Sörensson 2006, Abenius & Hellqvist 2007: 66, Hallin 2007: 21, Larsson 2007: 22 (as C. illiger ), Salminen 2007: 142, Valtonen 2007: 20, Karlsson 2008, Sörensson 2008a: 80, Abenius 2009: 59, Franzén & Norén 2009: 40, Hallin 2009: 10, Johansson 2009, Artsdatabanken 2010, Fritz & Larsson 2010: 151, Jantunen & Saarinen 2010: 49, Johansson 2010: 118, Nolbrant et al. 2010: 59, Orlovskytė et al. 2010: 150, Smissen 2010d: 393, Johansson 2011: 35, Ødegaard et al. 2011: 64, Franzén et al. 2012: 27, Hallin 2012, Larsson 2012: 12, Ranta 2012: 33, Rosa & Soon 2012, Dyntaxa 2013, Johansson 2013a: 81, Johansson, in press.

Chrysis succincta ab. chrysoprasina Hellén 1920: 211 , invalid name. Hellén 1935: 8.

Monochrysis succincta [part.]: Jansson 1922: 34.

Chrysis succincta var. chrysoprassina [!] Trautmann 1927: 159, nom. praeocc., nec Förster, 1853. Lectotype ♂ (here designated); Finland: Pärnå [= Pernaja] (MZH) (examined).

Chrysis succincta f. helléni Balthasar 1953: 285 , replacement name for chrysoprasina Trautmann, 1927 .

Chrysis helleni Linsenmaier 1959: 113 , nom. praeocc., nec Balthasar, 1953. Valkeila 1962: 64, Erlandsson 1971: 88, Silfverberg 1981: 61, Nilsson 1986: 86, Vikberg 1986b: 68, Kimsey & Bohart 1991: 417, Hellqvist 1994: 33.

Material examined: * Latvia: Krāslava , 21.VI.1972, 1 ♀ and 1 ♂, 18.VII.1974, 1 ♀ (V. Tumšs), Ropaži, 16.V.1967, 1 ♀, 3.VI.1967, 1 ♂, 19.VI.1967, 1 ♀ and 2 ♂♂, 24.VI.1967, 1 ♀ and 2 ♂♂, 30.V.1971, 1 ♂, 26.VI.1971, 1 ♀ (V. Tumšs); Upesciems, 10.VI.1972, 2 ♂♂ (V. Tumšs); Vecborne, 22.VI.1972, 1 ♀ (V. Tumšs) .

Distribution. Denmark, Estonia, Finland, * Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, Russian Fennoscandia.—Westpalearctic: Europe ( Linsenmaier 1997).

Remarks: The species is relatively common and widespread in the study area. Soon (2004) reported it from Denmark based on about 50 Danish specimens deposited in ZMUC (determined by E. Valkeila as C. helleni ). The Latvian specimens were found in the collections of LMSZ in Riga, where they were incorrectly determined as C. bicolor . The northernmost records in Finland and Sweden are from approximately the 64°50′ northern latitude.

As explained above, Hellén (1920) described four aberrations (ab.) of C. succincta ( sensu lato), which were later raised to variety (var.) level by Trautmann (1927), thus making them available as species or subspecies names according to the rules of the ICZN (1999, article 45.6.3.). One of these taxa, ab. chrysoprasina of Hellén, was described as var. chrysoprassina by Trautmann. The extra s-letter in Trautmann’s name is most likely due to a mistake or typographical error, and therefore should be omitted (ICZN 1999, article 32.5.1). The taxon was described as having a golden green head, thorax, first tergite and base of second tergite, but otherwise resembling the nominate form (“Kopf, Thorax, 1. und Basis vom 2. Abdomentergit ist goldgrün, sonst wie Nominatsform”). It was also said to be common in the males, and to occur in Finland and central Europe ( Trautmann 1927).

Apparently, either Hellén (1920) or Trautmann (1927) did not realize that the name chrysoprasina was a homonym of Chrysis chrysoprasina Förster, 1853 . Thus Balthasar (1953) and later Linsenmaier (1959) introduced the replacement name helleni for the taxon. The authorship of helleni should be attributed to Balthasar, not Linsenmaier, as noted already by Vikberg (1986a). Thus the correct original combination for the name is Chrysis succincta f. helleni Balthasar, 1953 . Linsenmaier (1959) raised helleni to species level, and later also e.g. Erlandsson (1971), Morgan (1984), Vikberg (1986b) and Kimsey & Bohart (1991) considered it to be a distinct species. Leclercq (1988) synonymized helleni with Chrysis illigeri Wesmael, 1839 , although he was not able to study the type of helleni . After Leclercq’s publication, helleni has been treated as a junior synonym of illigeri by several authors.

In Hellén’s original description, three records of ab. chrysoprasina , are mentioned: 1) “ Ab: Lojo (Håk. Lindb.)”, 2) “ N: Pärnå (Nordström)” and 3) “ Kl: Kexholm (Tengström)”. Accordingly, only specimens linked to these records should be considered as syntypes of C. succincta var. chrysoprasina Trautmann, 1927 . One male specimen collected from Lojo (= Lohja) by Håkan Lindberg is deposited in Linsenmaier’s collection in NMLS, and it has Hellén’s label “ succincta ab. chrysoprasina m. Hellén det.” and a red label “Type”. A male specimen from Pärnå (= Pernaja) collected by Åke Nordström is deposited in MZH in Helsinki, and it bears Hellén’s label “ Chrysis succincta L. ♂ ab. chrysoprasina m. Hellén det.” and Linsenmaier’s label “ Chrysis L. Chrysogona bicolor var. helleni ♂ Linsenmaier det., Allotypus ” ( Fig. 7 ). Apparently, the syntype / syntypes from Kexholm (= Käkisalmi/Priozersk) is/are lost.

The syntype collected from Pärnå is congruent with the current interpretation of C. illigeri (e.g. Linsenmaier 1997, Rosa 2006). However, the other syntype, collected from Lojo, belongs to the species C. bicolor . In order to maintain stable nomenclature, the syntype collected from Pärnå and deposited in MZH is here designated as the lectotype of C. succincta var. chrysoprasina Trautmann, 1927 . According to the ICZN (1999, article 72.7), this specimen is also the type of Chrysis succincta f. helleni Balthasar, 1953 .

Kimsey & Bohart (1991), Kunz (1994) and Mingo (1994) considered C. illigeri to be a junior synonym of C. bicolor . However, Kimsey & Bohart (1991) treated helleni as a valid species. Kunz based the synonymy mainly on the variability of the anal margin of the third tergite. As Rosa (2006) pointed out, the species cannot always be separated reliably without studying the shape of the black spots of the second sternite. In the Nordic and Baltic countries, C. bicolor and C. illigeri can always be separated from each other with a combination of different morphological characters, and there is no doubt that they represent separate species.

Figures

FIGURES 6–9. 6) Lectotype of Chrysis succincta var. nordstromi Trautmann, 1927 (= Chrysis westerlundi Trautmann, 1927). 7) Lectotype of Chrysis succincta var. chrysoprasina Trautmann, 1927 (= Chrysis illigeri Wesmael, 1839). 8) Holotype of Chrysis scintillans Valkeila, 1971 (= Chrysis solida Haupt, 1957). 9) Lectotype of Chrysis zetterstedti Dahlbom, 1831. Scale 1 mm. Photos: Pekka Malinen (6–8) and Alexander Berg (9).