Hedychridium Abeille de Perrin, 1878

Rosa, P. & Agnoli, G. L., 2019, Two new outstanding species of the genus Hedychridium Abeille from Kyrgyzstan (Hymenoptera: Chrysididae), Zoosystematica Rossica (Zoosyst. Rossica) 28 (1), pp. 42-50 : 43-44

Genus Hedychridium Abeille de Perrin, 1878

Hedychridium Abeille de Perrin, 1878: 3 . Type species Hedychrum minutum Lepeletier, 1806 [= Hedychridium ardens (Coquebert, 1801) ], by subsequent designation of Ashmead, 1902: 227.

Actineuchrum Semenov, 1954b: 141 . Type species Actineuchrum soloriens Semenov 1954b: 144 , by monotypy and original designation. Junior subjective synonym of Hedychridium Abeille de Perrin, 1878 according to Kimsey & Bohart (1991).

Claudiola Semenov, 1954a: 107 . Type species Claudiola rhodochlora Semenov and Nikol’skaya, 1954a, by original designation. Junior subjective synonym of Hedychridium Abeille de Perrin, 1878 according to Linsenmaier (1968).

Cyrteuchridium Semenov, 1954a: 100 . Type species Cyrteuchridium pusio Semenov, 1954a , by original designation. Junior subjective synonym of Hedychridium Abeille de Perrin, 1878 according to Linsenmaier (1968).

Cyrteuchrum Semenov, 1954a: 105 . Type species Cyrteuchrum flos Semenov, 1954a , by original designation. Junior subjective synonym of Hedychridium Abeille de Perrin, 1878 according to Linsenmaier (1968).

Euchrum Semenov, 1954a: 103 . Type species Chrysis carnea var. rosea Rossi, 1790 [= Hedychridium roseum (Rossi, 1790) ], by original designation. Junior subjective synonym of Hedychridium Abeille de Perrin, 1878 according to Linsenmaier (1968).

Euchridium Semenov, 1954a: 96 . Type species Euchridium trossulum Semenov, 1954a , by monotypy and original designation. Junior subjective synonym of Hedychridium Abeille de Perrin, 1878 according to Kimsey & Bohart (1991).

Homaleuchrum Semenov, 1954b: 141 . Type species Homaleuchrum smaragdinum Semenov 1954b , by monotypy and original designation. Junior subjective synonym of Hedychridium Abeille de Perrin, 1878 according to Kimsey & Bohart (1991).

Irenula Semenov and Nikol’skaya, 1954: 102. Type species Irenula margaritacea Semenov, 1954a: 102 , by original designation. Junior subjective synonym of Hedychridium Abeille de Perrin, 1878 according to Linsenmaier (1968).

Zarudnium Semenov, 1954a: 72 . Type species Hedychrum aheneum Dahlbom, 1854 , by monotypy and original designation. Junior subjective synonym of Hedychridium Abeille de Perrin, 1878 according to Linsenmaier (1968).

Zarudnidium Semenov, 1954a: 104 . Type species Zarudnidium sapphirinum Semenov, 1954a , by original designation. Junior subjective synonym of Hedychridium Abeille de Perrin, 1878 according to Linsenmaier (1968).

Description. Hedychridium is a quite heterogeneous genus of small colourful species ranging from 2.0 to 7.5 mm in length. Diagnostic morphological features include the single perpendicular tooth of the tarsal claw, the posterior margin of the third metasomal tergite evenly rounded, without notches, teeth or angular projections [excluding a very few species, such as the Central Asian Hedychridium soloriens (Semenov, 1954) with four sharp teeth]. Some species have a transverse and sharp frontal carina ( Hedychridium flos group) or metasoma entirely or largely non-metallic red to orange, sometimes with more or less obvious iridescent or metallic reflections ( Hedychridium roseum group).

Hosts. The biology of most Hedychridium species is poorly known, and available data are recorded only on a few European species; however, as far as we know, the larvae develop as nest parasites of ground-nesting wasps of the family Crabronidae (Hymenoptera) .

Distribution. Hedychridium from Central Asia are scarcely known, and only the fauna of Tajikistan (27 species) has been properly studied by Semenov & Nikol’skaya (1954). Kazakhstan (19 species), Turkmenistan (13) and Uzbekistan (13) have been less investigated, yet the number of unidentified species in museum collection is considerably high. The fauna of Kyrgyzstan (6 species) is almost unknown; this is true not only for Hedychridium , but even for the tribe Elampini in a whole, because the most active chrysidologist of Kyrgyzstan, Yuri S. Tarbinsky, published articles related to the tribe Chrysidini only and could not complete his research on the rest of the family.