Hephathus achilleae Mityaev 1967

Hephathus achilleae Mityaev, 1967

Figs. 18–19, 25, 31–34, 69–76, 81–82, 122–131, 134

Distribution (Fig. 134). Eastern Europe northwards to Fennoscandia and Baltic Region (Söderman et al., 2009), Ukraine, European Russia, North Caucasus, Transcaucasia, steppe zone of Northern and Eastern Kazakhstan.

Species identification. Four paratypes with the labels “Eastern Kazakhstan, env. Katon-Karagai, the foothill plain, milfoil [Achillea sp.], 28.VII.1961, I.D. Mityaev” deposited in Zoological Museum of M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University were investigated (Figs. 124, 128).

Remark. Apparently, some previous records of H. nanus from Eastern Europe and Russia refer to this species.

One male (holotype, Figs. 77–79) and one female (Figs. 95–97) of H. orientalis Linnavuori, 1953 were investigated. This form was originally described as a variety of H. nanus (Linnavuori, 1953) and later regarded as separate species (Linnavuori, 1962). Externally and in the shape of male genitalia, it is indistinguishable from H. freyi, but according to Linnavuori, 1962, it is endemic to Palestine and monophagous on Rubus sanguineus. This may indicate that H. orientalis is a separate biological species. This species is tentatively retained as a valid, but investigation of male calling signals will be necessary to elucidate its status.