Lasioglossum (Leuchalictus) discus (Smith, 1853)

Figs 1–3, 5A, C, 6A, 7A, C, 8A, C, 9A, 10A, D, 11A, 12A, C, 13A, C, 14A, C

Halictus discus Smith, 1853: 70.

Halictus morbillosus Kriechbaumer, 1873: 61–62.

Halictus morbillosus glasunovi Cockerell, 1924: 582–583.

Lasioglossum discus fertoni ♂ – Blüthgen 1931: 211 (comb. non auct.).

Halictus morbillosus glasunovi ♂ – Blüthgen 1931: 211 (synonymy with Lasioglossum discus fertoni, non auct.) [included within Lasioglossum discus based on geographic evidence].

Halictus morbillosus ♀ – Ebmer 1976: 5 (synonymy with Lasioglossum discus).

Type material examined

Lectotype of Halictus discus Smith, 1853 (designated by Ebmer 1976) GREECE? • ♀ (Fig. 1); “Type H.T // B.M. Type Hym. 17.a.997 // B.M. Type Hym. Halictus discus Smith 1853 // discus Typus Sm. // Rhea #f // Hololectotypus // LASIOGLOSSUM Lasioglossum discum (SM.) #F det A.W. Ebmer 1975 // NHMUK 014024745”; NHMUK 014024745.

Lectotype of Halictus morbillosus Kriechbaumer, 1873 (designated by Ebmer 1976) ITALY • ♀ (Fig. 2); South Tyrol, surroundings of Bolzano; “Cotype // 485. // Bozen A. Kriechbaumer // Sudtirol Haslach bei Bozen 24.8.1868 Kriechbaumer % // Halictus morbillosus Kriechbau P. Blüthgen det. #f // Lectotypus Halictus morbillosus #f Kr. Zool. Staatssammlg. Münich // LASIOGLOSSUM Lasioglossum discum (Sm.) #f, det A.W. Ebmer 1975”; WNHM.

Type material not examined

Holotype of Halictus morbillosus glasunovi Cockerell, 1924 TAJIKISTAN • ♂; Varsaminor; ZIN.

Other material examined

See Supp. file 1.

Distribution

Lasioglossum discus is distributed across southern Europe and western Asia, from the Iberian Peninsula in the west, across southern Europe including France, the Balkans and Anatolia, to the Caucasus and Central Asia in the east (Fig. 2).

Remarks

Blüthgen (1931) synonymised Lasioglossum morbillosum glasunovi with Lasioglossum discus fertoni based on correspondence by Popov, who compared a specimen of L. discus fertoni with the L. morbillosum glasunovi specimen cited by Morawitz (1893) and housed at ZIN. Furthermore, Pesenko (2006) synonymised L. discus fertoni with L. discus based on several Transcaucasian and Central Asia specimens, whose T1 punctation matched that of L. fertoni. According to Pesenko (2006), the L. discus specimen collected in China and preserved at ZIN “undoubtedly belongs to ‘ L. discus fertoni ’.” While some Central Asian specimens examined during this study do resemble the morphology described by Popov, a thorough assessment of both external and internal morphological characters confirms their placement within L. discus and not L. fertoni. Further research is necessary to determine the identity of the supposed L. fertoni specimens from China and Central Asia.

Although Lasioglossum discus was originally described by Smith (1853) with a type locality given as “North America”, subsequent studies have cast doubt on this attribution. Ebmer (1976) re-examined Smith’s material and concluded that the species is in fact West Palaearctic, not Nearctic, where representatives of the subgenus Leuchalictus are absent, and the only species recorded, L. zonulus (Smith, 1848) and L. leucozonium (Schrank, 1871), are introduced from the Palearctic (Ebmer 2011). In his revision, Ebmer (1976) examined three syntype specimens and interpreted the label “Rhea” as possibly referring to a locality in Greece, though he did not identify a specific site.

However, as noted by Baker (1993), the name “Rhea” is more likely an unpublished manuscript name rather than a geographical indication, possibly linked to classical references, as was common in 19 th- century collections. Given the absence of a reliable type locality and following Baker’s treatment, the species should be regarded as lacking a definitive terra typica.