Thyreus elegans ( Morawitz, 1877 )

Wood, Thomas, Leclercq, Vincent, Schmid-Egger, Christian & Praz, Christophe, 2025, A contribution to the knowledge of the genus Thyreus Panzer in the West and Central Palaearctic (Hymenoptera, Apidae), with two new species, taxonomic updates, host relationships, and a key to European species, Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift 72 (2), pp. 259-302 : 259-302

Thyreus elegans ( Morawitz, 1877)

Crocisa elegans Morawitz, 1877: 101, ♀ [ Azerbaijan, type lost].

? Crocisa intrudens Smith, 1878: 6 , ♀ [ China: Yarkant,? ZSI, not examined].

? Crocisa laevicrus Morawitz, 1886: 222 , ♂ [ China: Niya, type lost].

Crocisa quadridentata Saunders, 1908: 266, ♂ [ Algeria, NHMUK, examined].

Crocisa brezzii Guiglia, 1933: 140, ♀ [ Libya, MSNG, examined].

Material examined (illustrative).

Algeria • 1 ♂; Biskra; 13 May 1897; A. E. Eaton leg.; NHMUK ( holotype of C. quadridentata ) ; Kazakhstan • 7 ♂; SE, Shonzhy 10 km NW ; 654 m a. s. l.; 2 Jun. 2024; C. Schmid-Egger & W-H. Liebig leg.; CSE / TJWC / WHLC (BOLD accession number WPATW 1667-25) ; Iran • 1 ♂; Kerman prov., 7.5 km NE Shahdad ; 8 May 2019; C. Schmid-Egger leg.; TJWC (BOLD accession number WPATW 1032-23) ; Libya • 1 ♀; Gialo [Jalu] ; 1–30 Jun. 1931; Miss. Zool. aCufra leg.; MSNG ( holotype of C. brezzii ) ; Morocco • 1 ♀; Erfoud, Jorf ; 5 Jul. 2019; P. Rasmont leg.; TJWC (BOLD accession number WPATW 865-22) ; United Arab Emirates • 1 ♀; Barg al-Saqoor ; 30 Apr. 2019; A. van Harten leg.; TJWC (BOLD accession number WPATW 1033-23) .

Notes.

Thyreus elegans was described from Kurgulutschaiskaja and Tschemachlinskaja ( Morawitz 1877) in modern-day Azerbaijan; without topotypic sampling, it is not currently possible to confidently assign the name to either of the two clades observed in T. elegans sensu lato. It is not impossible that additional sampling between central Iran and south-eastern Kazakhstan may demonstrate that this genetic difference is simply intraspecific variation, although this is considered unlikely, as a 10 % difference in COI is substantial based on the pattern observed here in Thyreus species (Fig. 1 ). However, Lieftinck (1968: 131) commented on the name Thyreus laevicrus ( Morawitz, 1886) , which was described from “ Oasis Nia, Tibet ”, most likely corresponding to Niya in Xinjiang, China. The holotype male is lost, and Lieftinck expressed doubts as to whether T. laevicrus was distinct or simply a variety of T. elegans . The modern sample of “ T. elegans ” from Shonzhy is approximately 700 km from Niya. It may therefore represent a valid species, but it is premature to recognise it currently, especially since no morphological characters are apparent in the male sex, the only sex currently available from this sampling locality. Lieftinck (1968: 131) mentioned that the more slender pygidial plate of females could be used to distinguish Siberian and Central Asian specimens from Cypriot specimens, but this requires further study.

Moreover, the type of Thyreus intrudens ( Smith, 1878) , described from Yarkand [Yarkant County] in western China, should be searched for in the Zoological Survey of India collection (Kolkata), as the name would have priority over T. laevicrus if its identity can be clarified. Other type specimens from Smith (1878) have been located in the ZSI (e. g. Gautam et al. 2024), and it seems the most likely type repository (see Baker 1993: 272). The illustration provided by Smith (1878: fig. 8) shows a melectine bee with four white patches of pubescence on T 1, thus resembling T. elegans in a general sense. The description is highly suggestive, referring to “ the scutellum deeply emarginate and having a little white pubescence in the emargination ” and “ Abdomen, a broad band of white pubescence at the base and a narrower one on the apical margin of the segments, all slightly interrupted in the middle ”. See also comments by Baker (1993: 276).

Distribution.

West and Central Palaearctic; precise details are given by Lieftinck (1968) & Wood and Bossert (2025).

Figures

Figure 1. Phylogenetic tree (maximum likelihood) of Thyreus Panzer, 1806 species, based on fragments of the mitochondrial COI gene. Eupavlovskia obscura (Friese, 1895) is used as an outgroup. Numbers adjacent to branches represent bootstrap support (values < 75 % are omitted).