Chrysis elegans group - Samos, Greece

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Chrysis elegans group - Samos, Greece

Postby Alex » 02 Mar 2013 03:34

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 :wohow:

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
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Re: Chrysis elegans group - Samos, Greece

Postby Euchroeus » 02 Mar 2013 11:11

FANTASTIC WORK ALEX 8-)

Unfortunately until July I'll have no time for Chrysidids, I'm working in Rome.
I have only few moments to tell you that the 2 specimens clearly belong to 2 different species groups.

The first one belongs to C. elengas, while the second to the C. comparata group.
The shapes of the genital capsula do not lie. Moreover, look at the general habitus (subcylindrical in the first specimen) and at the pronotum (elongatum in the first one); they are typical for C. elegans.
I would identify this taxon as transcaspica or elegans ssp. transcapica Mocsáry, 1889.

The second specimen is more difficult to id, it is closely related to Chrysis analis, but I do not remember any species with anal margin with the same colour of the abdomen and short anal teeth (marginata has longer teeth and longer malar spaces). Do you have other specimens? please, search also within the females of analis collected in the same place.

Let me know.
Ciao
Paolo
Paolo Rosa - www.chrysis.net
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Re: Chrysis elegans group - Samos, Greece

Postby Alex » 03 Mar 2013 00:10

Thanks for your quick reply :thanks:
Well, I guess the apical dentition on these comta group males mark the line where you should continue in couplet 22 to 35 in the key...
This is the other male, the genital capsule looks like the other one, colouration is different though.


Sadly there where no comta females, the two females also collected where elegans-group (unless I'm wrong again..) both of them look like this:
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Re: Chrysis elegans group - Samos, Greece

Postby Euchroeus » 03 Mar 2013 18:29

Hi Alex,

be careful, I did not mention comta, which belongs to the ignita group, but one species from the comparata group.

I quickly checked your pictures, and I would identify your first male as Chrysis handlirschi Mocsáry, 1889.

286-377.gif
286-377.gif (29.96 KiB) Viewed 7004 times


369: analis
370: provenceana
371: verna
372: handlirschi

please, check if also the genital capsula of the second male matches perfectly the first one. C. verna and C. handlirschi have similar genital capsula, but the apex of the gonocoxa is different and the genital capsula is more elongated in handlirschi.
The second specimen has shorter malar spaces, typical of verna, but I don't know if I see an optical effect or not.

Ciao
Paolo
Paolo Rosa - www.chrysis.net
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Re: Chrysis elegans group - Samos, Greece

Postby Alex » 04 Mar 2013 22:11

Sigh, I always confuse those two, the spelling"compta" is likely why I confuse them.

Got the opportunity to snap some photos of the genital capsule and malar space at the institution today:


From what I can see both the malar space and capsule is virtually identitical to the first male I posted?

/Alex
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