Chrysis ignita

60. Chrysis ignita (Linnaeus, 1758)

Sphex ignita Linnaeus, 1758: 571. Lectotype ♀ (designated by Richards 1935); Europe (LSL).

Chrysis ignita [part.]: Linnaeus 1761: 414, Linnaeus 1771: 88, Julin 1792: 126, Billberg 1820: 104, Dahlbom 1829: 8, Dahlbom 1831: 28, Dahlbom 1837: 268, Zetterstedt 1840: 434, Dahlbom 1854: 293, Kawall 1855: 260, Nylander 1859a: 110, Nylander 1859b: 245, Thomson 1862: 296, Kawall 1864: 302, Kawall 1866a: 61, Thomson 1870: 108, Siebke 1880: 75, Radoszkowski 1889: 29, Borries 1891: 96, Nerén 1892: 114, 116, Westerlund 1893: 30, Buysson 1895: 579, Strand 1898: 97, Adlerz 1900: 162, Sparre Schneider 1909: 94, Adlerz 1910: 2, Sahlberg 1910: 96, Aurivillius 1911: 12, Strand 1918: 32, Hellén 1920: 213, Lundblad 1924: 25, Soot-Ryen 1924: 10, Trautmann 1927: 145, Hellén 1928: 86, Gaunitz 1929: 200, Krogerus 1932: 124, Jansson 1934: 287, Hellén 1935: 8, Jansson 1935: 85, Jørgensen 1942: 309, Lang 1949: 120, Benno 1950: 41, Lindberg & Saris 1952: 24, Fahlander 1954: 254, Tjeder 1954: 64, Maavara 1956: 195, Lundblad 1958: 48, Valkeila 1962: 64, Wengris 1962: 9, Faester 1965: 189, Tumšs & Maršakovs 1970: 93, Erlandsson 1971: 88, Lomholdt 1972: 119, Vikberg 1986b: 68, Humala 1997: 55, Bergsten et al. 2003: 71, Söderman & Vikberg 2003: 45, Abenius 2004 a, Soon 2004: 21–22, 46, Polevoi et al. 2005: 111, Kalniņš et al. 2007: 142, Larsson 2007: 22, Pettersson et al. 2007: 7, Valtonen 2007: 20, Karlsson 2008, Kutenkova 2008: 114, Abenius 2009: 59, Hallin 2009: 10, Artsdatabanken 2010, Johansson 2010: 118, Ødegaard et al. 2011: 64, Appelqvist & Lindholm 2012: 16, Hallin 2012, Ranta 2012: 33, Dyntaxa 2013, Soon et al. 2014: 309–310.

Tetrachrysis ignita [part.]: Jansson 1922: 34.

Chrysis ignita ignita [part.]: Valkeila et al. 1963: 40, Rosa & Soon 2012.

Chrysis ignita form/species B: Johansson 2009, Orlovskytė et al. 2010: 149, Smissen 2010c: 307.

Distribution. Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, Russian Fennoscandia.—Westpalearctic: from West Europe to central Asia (Linsenmaier 1997).

Remarks. Linsenmaier (1959) divided Chrysis ignita into two forms, Form A and Form B, according to differences in their morphology and phenology. Recent morphological and molecular studies have shown that these two forms represent different species with different hosts (Smissen 2010, Soon & Saarma 2011). As Linsenmaier (1959) pointed out, the lectotype (male) of C. ignita in Linnaeus’ collection belongs to Form B. The valid name of Form A is C. terminata Dahlbom, 1854 (see below). Both species occur in the study area.

Almost all published records of Chrysis ignita from the Nordic and Baltic countries represent the species in the broad sense (C. ignita sensu lato), and it is impossible to know which species of the C. ignita group (excl. C. fulgida, C. iris, and usually also C. ruddii) were meant. Even in recent publications and databases (e.g. Artsdatabanken 2010, Rosa & Soon 2012, Dyntaxa 2013) C. ignita and C. terminata have not been separated. Thus correct information on the distribution of C. ignita sensu stricto is possible to obtain only by checking the determinations of specimens in collections. DNA barcoding is also required, because species of the C. ignita group, especially males are often difficult to identify on the basis of morphology alone (Soon et al. 2014).

So far only preliminary information on the distribution and abundance of C. ignita in the Nordic and Baltic countries can be presented. Its presence has been confirmed in all countries by checking museum and private collections. A thorough study of East Fennoscandian collections has shown that the species has had a wide distribution in Finland and Russian Fennoscandia during the early 20th century, but has thereafter become very rare and local in both regions. The situation seems to be similar in Sweden (Smissen 2010c). In Norway, Denmark, Estonia and Latvia, the current situation of C. ignita is poorly known. Orlovskytė et al. (2010) reported 13 locations for C. ignita from Lithuania and many records from recent years.

One Norwegian specimen (collected from STI: Trondheim Lade 2013), one Finnish specimen (collected from Ka: Virolahti 2005) and a few Lithuanian specimens, which were originally identified as Chrysis ignita (sensu stricto) according to morphological characters, have turned out to differ significantly from other North European C. ignita specimens on the basis of their mitochondrial DNA sequences. According to Soon et al. (2014) these specimens probably represent a cryptic species (“ Chrysis sp.1 ”), whereas another cryptic species (“ Chrysis sp.2 ”) is known from central Europe. So far, it is not known whether the lectotype of C. ignita represents C. ignita sensu stricto, as treated here, or either of these two cryptic species.