Chrysis maracandensis Radoszkowski 1877

Chrysis maracandensis Radoszkowski, 1877 (Fig. 22A–F) Chrysis maracandensis Radoszkowski, 1877:14. Lectotype ♂ designated by Bohart in Kimsey & Bohart, 1991:436; Uzbekistan: Zarafshan (Moscow) (scutellaris group). Material examined. 1♂, Hormozgan, Ramkan, 26°52'25''N, 56°01'07''E, 18.vi.2012, leg. A. Ameri (TMUC); 1♂, idem, 28.v.2012 (TMUC); 1♂, idem, 14.vi.2012 (TMUC). Distribution. * Iran (Hormozgan). Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tadjikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan (Radoszkowski, 1889; Mocsáry, 1889; du Buysson, 1895; Kimsey & Bohart, 1991; Tarbinsky 2002c). Remarks. All examined specimens of Chrysis maracandensis from Iran to Central Asia in several collections are males. Based on museum specimens and collecting localities, females of Chrysis maracandensis should be similar to Chrysis consobrina and to other species of the scutellaris group, yet any association was proposed before, and never observed in nature. Sex associations in this subgroup are still unclear and females of different species cannot be yet associated to the corresponding males. The specimens of Chrysis maracandensis (Fig. 22) from Iran are slightly different from the typical Central Asian form for the well-defined apical teeth of the third tergum, contrasting with the typical form with the two median teeth normally undulate. In this sense, the Iranian specimens of C. maracandensis could also be the so far unknown males of Chrysis subdistincta (see below). New taxonomic research should be addressed on this species-group, also with the help of molecular analysis, which can probably better associate the two sexes, otherwise difficult to observe in copula, for example, in nature.