Chalcis Fabricius, 1787

Binoy, C. & Sureshan, P. M., 2025, A new species of Chalcis Fabricius (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae: Chalcidinae) and a review of the regional species from the Indian subcontinent, Journal of Natural History 59 (13 - 16), pp. 983-996 : 985-986

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2025.2472437
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/0604255B-FFE9-FFE1-FDED-70C3FB1DFE0F
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Chalcis Fabricius
status

Treatment

Chalcis Fabricius View in CoL

Chalcis Fabricius, 1787: 272 . Type species: Sphex sispes Linnaeus, 1761 , by subsequent designation of Westwood (1839: 65).

Smiera Spinola, 1811: 147 View in CoL . Type species Sphex sispes Linnaeus, 1761 , by subsequent designation of Curtis (1833: 472). Synonymy by Gahan and Fagan (1923: 31).

Smicra Spinola, 1837: 1 View in CoL . Unjustified emendation of Smiera View in CoL .

Bouček (1951), Delvare (1992) and Saguiah et al. (2020) give diagnoses of the genus and its host associations; hence, this information is not repeated here.

Note

The key to the Oriental species of Chalcis (Ranjith and Priyadarshanan 2023) erroneously mentions petiole with tubercle-like projections anteriorly and posteriorly. On examination of the holotype of C. biligiriensis , and type images of C. edentata and C. gibsoni , it is understood that the posterior upturned coxal flange accommodating the metafemur is recognised as the posterior tubercle on the petiole.

Thus, a modified key from Narendran (1989) including C. biligiriensis is prepared and provided for easy identification of Chalcis occurring in the Indian subcontinent.

Key to species of Chalcis Fabricius occurring in the Indian subcontinent (females only)

1. Ventral margin of metafemur with all denticles of similar size ( Figures 1 View Figure 1–7 , 27 View Figure 23–28 ) ......... 2

– Ventral margin of metafemur with basal tooth/denticle large, followed by several shorter denticles ( Figures 13 View Figure 8–15 , 33 View Figure 29–34 ) ................................................................................................. 3

2. Metafemur black with yellow patches at basal and apical ends ( Figure 1 View Figure 1–7 ), with conspicuous inner basal tooth present ( Ranjith and Priyadarsanan 2023, fig. 3A); frons with yellow macula on inner margin of eye; lower face, raised ( Figure 2 View Figure 1–7 ); propodeum with very short a median carina ( Ranjith and Priyadarsanan 2023, fig. 1E) ............................................................................................................................................ C. biligiriensis

– Metafemur entirely black, no yellow patch on surface ( Figure 27 View Figure 23–28 ), without an inner basal tooth; frons entirely black, no yellow macula on inner margin of eye ( Figure 25 View Figure 23–28 ); area below scrobe without a raised area ( Figure 25 View Figure 23–28 ); propodeum with a median carina reaching halfway ( Figure 26 View Figure 23–28 ) .................................................. C. edentata

3. Metafemur ventrally with 12–14 denticles, basal one very large, curving forward ( Figure 13 View Figure 8–15 ); metasoma at most brown-black; frons with yellow macula slightly removed from inner margin of eye ( Figure 11 View Figure 8–15 ); apex of mesoscutellum distinctly produced, apical margin truncate ( Figure 12 View Figure 8–15 ) ........................................ C. bipatrus sp. n.

– Metafemur ventrally with 17–19 denticles, basal one not large as in alternate, not curved ( Figure 33 View Figure 29–34 ); metasoma red-brown; frons without any yellow macula; apex of mesoscutellum weakly emarginate, apical margin rounded ( Figure 32 View Figure 29–34 ) ... ... C. gibsoni