I'm currently going through the indet Chrysidid material from the ZMLU (Zoological Museum, Lund University) trying to at least get the material ID'd to genus/species group. Will probably add more topics like this, there's material from all over the world
There where 5 (2f, 3m) Chrysis specimens from Greece, all collected on Samos, 1km E Koumarades, 2007.V.15, alt 250m.
Keyed them in Kimsey and Bohart 1991 to the elegans group, and thought they where all the same species... I noted that two of the males where heavier built, broader and with coarser punctuation but I supposed it was just interspecies variation.
Was very surprised when I softened them and look at the aedeagus and the two broader males looked completely different!
Could not find any species that matched in Linsenmaier 1959, but they seem to fit the description of Chrysis ashabadensis Radoszkowski, 1891 in Linsenmaier 1968, ie broad, pronotum much wider then long, coarser sculpturation, aedeagus with a concavity (as in C. ramburi fig. 312 in Linsenmaier 1959) The colouration seems to mostly match, but for example the tarsi are dark, not light. The distribution is given as "Persien, Klein-Asien, Libanon".
As I have no experience with the elegans group I want to be sure of the species, otherwise I'll just write elegans group on the label.
First the male I think is a good candidate for a C. elegans?
And this is one of the two "C. ashabadensis" males:
The pictures are larger than shown in the text, so click and enlarge for the full size view.
Thanks for any advice, I can add pictures of the female and internal sclerites as well, but both look much like the above "elegans ss" males.
Or am I completely in the wrong Chrysis species group?
/Alex