Chrysidids from Spain, July 2014

[Alex]

Thought I'd make a thread for posting images from my trip to Spain this summer. Or should I make one post for each specimen instead?

The locale (July 2014, Castilla & León , Spain), will add more shots later. The site had lots of nice little micro-habitats, flat sand & mud, bluffs, an old chapel, dead trees, lots of flowers and so on.

These two specimens should be correctly ID'd, but confirmation would be nice anyway

My first Euchroeus specimen, very happy to have encountered this species in the field!
Euchroeus limbatus Dahlbom, 1854, spp. dusmeti Trautmann, 1926, female
Large

Another very beautiful species in my view, perhaps not as "exclusive" as Euchroeus, but always a joy to find, was able to collect a few of them, especially on Daucus sp.
Chrysis semicincta Lepeletier, 1806, female
Large , Large on white background

More to come (when I get time...)
/Alex

[Euchroeus]

Alex!!!

These pictures are really super-fantastic!!!

Of course the ID is correct and they are two of the most beautiful and colourful species in Europe!
I'm waiting to see what else you collected in Spain

Cheers
Paolo

[Alex]

Thanks for the quick confirmation!

You are of course most welcome to use these, and coming, pictures for the species gallery if you want Although I assume the Iberian fauna doesnt overlap a lot with the Italian, and species which overlaps probably look a bit different (everything seems more coppery/reddish from Spain).

/A

[Daniele Sechi]

Hi! I have to say, too... Great photos!!!
E poi volevo chiedere a Paolo se è possibile che abbia visto la C. semicincta in Trentino, ovviamente scappata ma sembrava proprio lei

[Euchroeus]

Ciao Daniele!

Ci sei andato vicino!
in Trentino c'è una specie simile ma molto più bella e rara, è la Chrysis jucunda Mocsary.
Ha lo stesso colore ma appartiene ad un gruppo di specie differente.
Non conosco località di raccolta in Trentino, ma in Friuli è più abbondante nei dintorni di Trieste, sulle aree carsiche.

Ti trovo a Modena?
Ciao!
Paolo

[Alex]

Glad you like them Daniele!
C. jucunda looks very pretty, I can imaginge it looking somewhat similar to C. semicincta at a glance. I hope you'll have an opportunity to catch some!

Here's the next shot, a Hedychrum female, its so small and slender I took it for a Hedychridium at first, but its obviously the latter genus when studied closer. No idea what species it is though, if additional views are needed for ID just say. Sternite 2 has no medial tab as in the H. nobile-group, it looks similar to H. rutilans but the punctation gets much sparser (but individual punctures get larger) posteromedially.
Large

Caught in Castilla & León, Spain 21th July 2014.

/Alex

[Euchroeus]

Hi Alex,

congrats!
I think it's a new species quite widespread in S Spain.
I collected it in S Spain from Granada eastward to Barcelona and Girona.
It's a species closely related to Hedychrum rufipes du Buysson.
You're welcome to study this species-group...

Beautiful.
Did you also collected the males?

Ciao
Paolo

[Alex]

Wow! I know the Iberian chrysidid fauna is a bit understudied, but I didnt realise it could still hold widespread undescribed species like this. Thanks for the ID!

Actually had the name H. rufipes pop up in my head when I posted it, but seeing as its a Sardinian endemic... it could of course be a related species. Are they related to H. gerstaeckeri (as rufipes was described as a ssp of it), or do they have their own species group?
I should have collected some males, hopefully Dont really have time to go through the material at the moment I'm afraid.

Next up, a Chrysis pulchella-group specimen, just have to edit the stacked image a bit

/Alex

[Alex]

And here's the image:

Chrysis pulchella Spinola, 1808? Or a related species?
Castilla & León, Spain 21th July 2014.
Large,

In any case, the species (or sp-group) name is very fitting, these are smallish, and very pretty little Chrysis!

/Alex

[Euchroeus]

Hi Alex,

another beautiful picture!!!

Yes, it really looks like C. pulchella Spinola, female. Very nice.

Unfortunately the volume on the Iberian Fauna by Mingo, very likely, is the worst volume ever published on the Chrysididae. As far as I remember (a few years ago I prepared a short list of mistakes, etc.) she forgot about 40 taxa described or cited for Spain. These taxa are not listed, in the synonymic lists or anywhere else, simply forgotten. And this is not acceptable for an important volume as a National Fauna. And I do not comment the distributional data, and the fact that she did not visit the Linsenmaier collection, who described dozens of Spanish species and collected about 15,000 specimens.
Recently other friends collected in Portugal some specimens of a new species for Europe. And other Spanish colleagues collected undescribed specimens belonging to different genera. So, there's still a lot of work to do on the Iberian fauna!

Good job Alex!!!!