Hedychrum nobile/niemelai?

[nick w]

I found a group of Chrysids just last week (7/2021) in Rhenen, the Netherlands and we got as far as Hedychrum nobile/niemelai for the colourful one. We are now wondering about the smaller one, it could be a male of nobile/niemelai or it could be a gerstaeckeri it seems. Can anyone here help me?

The picture that shows the hair on the head was made by a friend and is used with her permission; all other pictures are my own.

The flower is a standard bramble flower, which should give you an idea of the size.

for other pictures see https://waarneming.nl/observation/220067649/ ; I can't seem to manage more than one picture in this post

thanks a lot,
Nick W

[Euchroeus]

Nick!

Well your ID is correct, I can't say anything else.
Usually the smallest specimens belong to H. niemelai, but occasionally also gerstaeckeri males are small.

The question on hairs is only for sex ID, if they are erected, then they are males (nobile, niemelai, gerstaeckeri), if they are lying down the specimen is a female.
If the female is green, in central Europe we have only gerstaeckeri (other species are found in the South).

You can post as many pictures as you wish in one post (see other posts), try again
Cheers
Paolo

[nick w]

thanks Paolo!

I'll see if I can make a post with more pictures.

cheers,
Nick