Hedychrum chloroideum Dahlbom, 1854

Rosa, Paolo & Xu, Zai-fu, 2015, Annotated type catalogue of the Chrysididae (Insecta, Hymenoptera) deposited in the collection of Maximilian Spinola (1780 - 1857), Turin, ZooKeys 471, pp. 1-96 : 40-41

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Chrysididae

Hedychrum chloroideum Dahlbom, 1854

Hedychrum chloroideum : Dahlbom 1854: 66 (given as var. b).

Type locality.

"Habitat in Europa media et meridionali mensibus Majo - Julio passim; Turcia: D. Drewsen; Graecia: D. Loew; Austria: D. D. De Christophori, Kollàr et Megerle von Mühlfeld; Silesia: D. Zeller".

Material.

Lectotype (here designated) ♂. Hedychrum chloroideum // ( Chrysis ) Ziegl. // D. De Cristofori, Autriche.

Paralectotypes 3 ♂♂. idem.

Catalogue Casolari & Casolari Moreno. Hedychrum chloroideum , 84, 9, 19, 4 (box 50).

Remarks.

The specimens of Hedychrum chloroideum collected in Austria by Ziegler and listed as syntypes by Dahlbom (1854: 66) are still housed in the Spinola collection. The syntype series given by Dahlbom includes specimens collected in Turkey (coll. Drewsen, ZMUC), Greece (coll. Loew), Austria (coll. De Christophori, Kollár, Megerle, MRSN), and Silesia (coll. Zeller, LZM). The original description is based only on males, characterized by the green colour, sometimes light green to blue-green. The name chloroideum is derived from this particular colouration. The female is easily recognizable by the shape and the colouration of its body. It has an elongated metasoma and red-purple colour on head and on the dorsal part of the mesosom. The metasoma, the propodeum, and ventral surface are a contrasting blue colour. In Dahlbom’s time, the female was known as Hedychrum fervidum (Fabricius). Males and females were considered as different species because of the remarkable sexual dimorphism and dichroism. Holopyga chloroidea (Dahlbom, 1854) as well as Holopyga curvata ( Förster, 1853) (name with priority) had been considered as a valid species for a very long time. The hypothesis given by Trautmann (1922: 321) that Holopyga curvata (= Holopyga chloroidea ) could be the male of Holopyga fervida was not immediately accepted (e.g. Invrea, 1923: 13). Once the synonym was accepted, all the authors agreed on this fact, except Linsenmaier. Linsenmaier (1959, 1968, 1969) considered Holopyga chloroidea as a separate subspecies of Holopyga fervida distributed in Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, and Cyprus. His interpretation, even though not in contrast with the original distribution of Holopyga chloroideum as outlined by Dahlbom, can be a source of taxonomical instability. This is because the oriental form of Holopyga fervida , exhibiting a coarser punctuation, is currently referred to as Holopyga fervida ssp. buyssoni Mercet, 1902. To retain nomeclatural stability, we designate a lectotype of Hedychrum chloroideum Dahlbom that clearly does not refer to this subspecies. We select the specimen from the above three mentioned ones that is only partially damaged, lacking the right flagellum, tibia and tarsi of the left foreleg, femur, tibia and tarsi of the mid and left metaleg.

Kimsey (1986: 108) designated a lectotype of Hedychrum chloroideum Dahlbom at MNHN, but the designation was based on a female collected in France ("env. de Paris") and found in the Lepeletier collection. The original description is based only on males and no syntype was collected in France or was housed in Lepeletier’s collection. This specimen is not a syntype and therefore it cannot be considered as a lectotype, according to the Art. 74.2.

Current status.

Holopyga fervida (Fabricius, 1781) (synonymised by Trautmann 1922: 321).