Euodynerus (Euodynerus) caspicus (Morawitz, 1873)

(Figs 4F–I; 14B; 15D; 16C)

Leionotus caspicus Morawitz, 1873: 295, ♀, ♂ — [Turkmenistan] “Kranowodsk” (lectotype female ZISP [examined]).

Lionotus cardinalis Morawitz, 1885: 167, ♂ — [Azerbaijan] “Transcaucasia. Etschmiadzin” (lectotype male ZISP [examined]).

Euodynerus caspicus astrachanensis Blüthgen, 1942: 302, ♀ (in subgenus Euodynerus) — [Russia] “Ryn-Pesski (Distr. Astrachan)” (ZMB).

Euodynerus caspicus armeniacus Gusenleitner, 2016: 89, 96, fig. 13, ♀ (in subgenus Euodynerus) — “ Armenia, Armavir Vanand, 900m ” (OLML [examined]). Syn. nov.

Distribution. Mainly Asian species ranging from the Caucasus in the West to China in the East, occurring in the South-Eastern border of Europe (Russia: Astrakhan Province) (Rahmani et al. 2020).

Notes. Gusenleitner (2016) described the subspecies Euodynerus caspicus armeniacus based on a single female from Armenia, differentiating it from E. caspicus s. str. and E. caspicus astrachanensis Blüthgen only by pattern, sculpture, and width of the disc of metanotum. Euodynerus caspicus is a highly variable species and the characters reported by Gusenleitner as diagnostic of the subspecies armeniacus fall within the range of variability, already largely highlighted by Morawitz (1885: 167) in the description of the synonym L. cardinalis . The examination of a specimen from Armenia attributable to the subspecies armeniacus further confirms this, since it does not present substantial differences from the specimens of the typical subspecies occurring from European Russia to Central Asia and Mongolia. The subspecies E. caspicus armeniacus is therefore synonymized under the nominotypical one.