Chrysis curax Harris, 1776

Rosa, Paolo, 2024, A journey through the history of the British Chrysididae (Hymenoptera): unexpected taxonomic problems, new records and description of a new species, Journal of Natural History 58 (25 - 28), pp. 840-889 : 866

Chrysis curax Harris, 1776

Chrysis curax Harris, 1776, p. 69 . Holotype ♀; England (type lost).

Synonym of Trichrysis cyanea ( Linnaeus, 1758) : present paper.

Chrysis curax Harris has not been mentioned in any subsequent publication following its original description. The type specimen exhibits wing venation teratology, displaying an aberration with a supplementary closed cell in the median cell of the fore wing. Despite the unusual wing structure, the species description is clear, and its correct identification is not in doubt. Harris (1776) described the species with ‘the head, thorax and abdomen, are of a blue green. The anus hath three denticulations’, which corresponds specifically to Trichrysis cyanea ( Linnaeus, 1758) only. Harris (1776) placed this specimen in a different ‘Order’ based on the observed different wing venation anomaly.

This particular teratological condition in wing venation, along with similar observations in various Chrysididae species, is a subject of ongoing research by Rosa and Zilioli (in prep.) ( Figure 15 ).

Figures

Figure 15. A. Chrysis curax Harris, 1776, drawing with detail of the wing venation. B. Teratological wing of a cuckoo wasp with additional closed cell in the medial cell.