Exsecochrysis gracilia ( Linsenmaier, 1985 )

Rosa, Paolo & Brothers, Denis J., 2025, Nomenclatural and taxonomic updates on the Brazilian cuckoo-wasp catalogue (Hymenoptera, Chrysididae), Zootaxa 5642 (6), pp. 501-541 : 520

Exsecochrysis gracilia ( Linsenmaier, 1985) stat. resurr.

( Figs 10A, 10C )

Neochrysis (Exsecochrysis) gracilia Linsenmaier, 1985: 463 . Holotype ♀; Brazil: Santa Catarina, Seara [Nova Teutônia], Plaumann (NMLU, examined). Linsenmaier (1997: 265). Reinstated. Synonym of Pleurochrysis alfkeni ( Ducke, 1902) according to Kimsey & Bohart (1991: 524); Lucena et al. (2024: 30).

Exsecochrysis gracilia ( Linsenmaier, 1985) : present paper: stat. resurr.

Material examined. Holotype ♀: Brasilien, Nova Teutonia 27°11’B–52°23’L Fritz Plaumann XI.1960 300-500m / 395 / Neochrysis Exsecochrysis gracilia Lins. det. Linsenmaier 1985 / NML_ENT GBIF_Chr0013441 ( NMLU).

Exsecochrysis gracilia was synonymized by Kimsey & Bohart (1991) with E. alfkeni ( Ducke, 1902) , without type examination, and reinstated by Linsenmaier (1997) who provided a diagnosis and line drawings to revalidate this taxon. Lucena et al. (2024) ignored the revalidation and again considered it a synonym of E. alfkeni ( Ducke, 1902) . We could not examine the holotype of E. alfkeni , but only specimens identified by Ducke in European collections ( MSNG, NHMW, NMBE). Specimens of several taxa have apparently been identified as such, and E. gracilia is one of those taxa. Diagnostic characters to separate E. gracilia from E. alfkeni (characters of the latter primarily derived from Ducke’s original description of the holotype) are: the unmodified convex surface of the propodeum [= metanotum in Linsenmaier 1985, 1997] vs irregularly raised and bumpy, with a short, pointed, conical, tuberculate basal spine— aber unregelmässig höckerig erhaben, letzteres mit kurzem, spitzen, kegelförmigen, tuberkelähnlichen Dorn an der Basis (from Ducke 1902)—and considered by Linsenmier (1985) as the main character to separate E. alfkeni from the other species, but later observed also in E. adnexa Linsenmaier, 1997 (see Fig. 10D ); distance between the inner teeth of the third tergum from each other smaller than that between the inner and outer teeth vs distance between the inner teeth from each other much greater than that between the inner and outer teeth.

For all these characters, we agree with Linsenmaier (1985, 1997) that E. gracilia ( Linsenmaier, 1985) is a valid and distinct species, stat. resurr. Another question is whether E. gracilia could be the female of E. allotria , but this association needs to be confirmed by molecular analysis or with more study material.

Figures

FIGURE 10. A, C. Exsecochrysis gracilia (Linsenmaier, 1985), holotype, ♀; B, D. Exsecochrysis adnexa (Linsenmaier, 1997), holotype, ♀; A, B. Head, pronotum and mesonotum, dorsal view, arrow pointing to the lateral pronotal carina. C, D. Second sternum, ventral view.