Chrysis intricata Brullé, 1846

Rosa, Paolo & Brothers, Denis J., 2025, Nomenclatural and taxonomic updates on the Brazilian cuckoo-wasp catalogue (Hymenoptera, Chrysididae), Zootaxa 5642 (6), pp. 501-541 : 514-515

Chrysis intricata Brullé, 1846 and associated species

Chrysis intricata Brullé, 1846: 25 . Syntype ♀♀; French Guiana: Cayenne; USA: Philadelphia (lost); Lucena et al. (2024: 24).

Chrysis smidti Dahlbom, 1854: 317 . Syntype ♀♀; South America: ‘America meridionali’ (lost, not UZIL or UZM) according to Bohart (1962).

Chrysis proxima Cameron, 1888: 465 . Holotype ♀; Panama (NHMUK) (not examined).

Chrysis (Hexachrysis) aenescens Mocsáry, 1889: 577 . Holotype ♀; French Guiana: Cayenne (MHNG, not NHMW) (not examined).

Chrysis henrici du Buysson, 1891: 44 . Holotype ♀; Mexico (lost).

Material examined. Several specimens in European collections identified as Chrysis intricata but belonging to different species.

Kimsey & Bohart (1991) placed Chrysis intricata Brullé, 1846 within the Chr. smaragdula group listing several synonyms, including species described from Mexico to Argentina. The type of Chr. intricata seems to be lost together with the other types which originated from Serville’s collection ( Rosa 2024a). PR has examined the types of the species synonymized with Chr. intricata , except the types of Chr. proxima Cameron, 1888 and Chr. henrici du Buysson, 1891 considered to be the female of Pleurochrysis bruchi ( Brèthes, 1903) by Linsenmaier (1985), whose depository is currently unknown, and Chrysis smidti Dahlbom, 1854 for which PR could not find the type, neither at UZM (also teste L. Vilhemsen) nor at UZIL (also teste R. Danielsson). The type of Chr. aenescens Mocsáry, 1889 is not at NHMW, as stated by Kimsey & Bohart (1991), but in MHNG, as written in the original description; PR saw this type some years ago without taking any pictures and the collection is currently closed for renovation, therefore he could not access the material for further research. Consequently, we retain these four taxa as junior subjective synonyms of Chr. intricata .

Based on morphological examination, we recognise at least three species:

(1) The first is Chrysis aequinoctialis Dahlbom, 1854 , stat. resurr. ( Fig. 3A ), with Chr. schulthessi Mocsáry, 1889 , syn. nov. ( Fig. 3B ), and Chr. peruviana du Buysson, 1898 , syn. nov. ( Fig. 3C ), that should be considered as its synonyms. They all exhibit similar sculpture; uniform blue body colour with two blue basal stripes on the second and third terga, though the latter stripe is not visible in Chr. aequinoctialis ; and identical structure and position in the apical margin of the third tergum, including the pits, the pit row and apical teeth. Chr. schulthessi and Chr. peruviana also share the same mesopleuron shape, carinate on the lower part, but PR could not check this character in Chr. aequinoctialis due to the current inaccessibility of the Spinola collection. However, Rosa & Xu (2015) already noticed inconsistences between the type of Chr. aequinoctialis and the description of Chr. intricata given by Bohart & Kimsey (1982).

(2) The second species is Chr. anceps Gribodo, 1879 , stat. resurr. ( Fig. 4A ), with two synonyms: Chr. aperta du Buysson, 1898 , syn. nov. and Chr. hexodontophora Bischoff, 1910 , syn. nov. They have the typical coloration of Neotropical species, green with blue to dark blue and black areas between the punctures on the pronotum and mesoscutum, and transversal blue stripes on the second and third terga, with blue median areas on all metasomal segments. The third tergum is also different with the post pit row area elongate and protruding behind the pit row, with lateral teeth that are more widely spaced from the median ones. They also share the strongly carinate lower mesopleuron, forming a tooth-like projection visible in lateral view. The metasomal punctation of Chr. anceps consists of large, separated punctures ( Fig. 4A ), with shagreened interspaces. Based on material deposited at European museums, we observed that Ducke identified this species as Chr. smidti .

(2) The third species, Chr. cognata Gribodo, 1879 , stat. resurr., shares a similar colour pattern but is predominatly light blue rather than green. It has a very dense punctation on the metasoma ( Fig. 4B ); especially on the second tergum, where it becomes uniform and small on the second half, and on the third tergum, which is evenly and densely punctate, contrasting with the large, separated punctures of Chr. anceps .

Due to differences in punctation, the shape of the third tergum, and colour pattern we consider Chrysis aequinoctialis Dahlbom, 1854 stat. resurr., Chr. anceps Gribodo, 1879 stat. resurr. and Chr. cognata Gribodo, 1879 stat. resurr. valid species.

Chrysis proxima , Chr. henrici , Chr. smidti and Chr. aenescens may be valid species or synonyms of other species. In the Neotropics, only another six species of the smaragdula group are known: Chr. cubensis Guérin-Méneville, 1842 (type examined) from Cuba; Chr. fabricii Mocsáry, 1882 (type of its synonym Chr. dromeda du Buysson, 1898 examined) described from Cayenne and distributed from Suriname to Argentina ( Kimsey & Bohart 1991), and including more species based on material deposited at European collections (e.g. in MSNG); Chr. insularis Guérin-Méneville, 1842 (type examined) from the Dominican Republic; Chr. patagonica Mocsáry, 1889 (type at MHNG, not examined for temporary unavailability of the collection) from Argentina, but also recorded from Mexico; Chr. smaragdula Fabricius, 1775 (type examined) described from North America (“ America boreali ”) and distributed South to Costa Rica. These species are distinct based on various morphological characters and are not involved in the taxa related to Chr. intricata . The true identity of Chr. intricata remains unresolved, as specimens identified as such in European museums belong to various species. However, based on the description, Chr. intricata can be recognised by the large and contiguous punctures on the head and mesosoma, and double, very dense punctation on the metasoma, with the largest punctures smaller than those on the mesosoma. The pits in the pit row are very large and unequal in size. Since the original description is clear enough to identify a morphospecies, we do not consider Chr. intricata a nomen dubium.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Metasoma, dorsal view. A. Chrysis aequinoctialis Dahlbom, 1854, lectotype, ♂; B. Chrysis schulthessi Mocsáry, 1889, lectotype, ♂; C. Chrysis peruviana du Buysson, 1898, holotype, ♂. Scale bars 1.0 mm.

FIGURE 4. Metasoma, dorsal view. A. Chrysis anceps Gribodo, 1879, paralectotype, ♂; B. Chrysis cognata Gribodo, 1879, holotype, ♀. Scale bars 1.0 mm.