A new species and new records of cuckoo wasps from Pakistan and India (Hymenoptera, Chrysididae)

Chrysis arkadyi sp. nov. from India and Pakistan is herein described in the C. splendidula species group, and C. speculata du Buysson, 1896 is recorded for the first time from Pakistan. The Chrysis autocrata species group, established by Linsenmaier (1997), is synonymised with the C. succincta species group, and the C. serpentula species group, established by Tarbinsky (2002), is synonymised with the C. splendidula species group. C. autocrata Nurse, 1903 syn. nov. and C. ewridica Tarbinsky, 2001 syn. nov. are considered junior synonyms of C. variana du Buysson, 1901. A key to the seven species of the C. succincta species group so far known from Pakistan and India is provided.


Introduction
The Chrysididae of India were recently reviewed by Rosa et al. (2021), who listed 105 species for the country. The Pakistani fauna of cuckoo wasps is instead quite poorly known and only about fifty species have been recorded for the country. The most active researcher for this country was Colonel Charles George Nurse (1862Nurse ( -1933 who, as many other entomologists, began by collecting butterflies and moths, and in later years he extended his interest to other orders of insects, in particular to Hymenoptera. Thanks to his studies and collected material, more than 200 new species were added to the Hymenoptera fauna of India, although he described relatively few species himself, the rest being described by Cameron, Bingham and Morley. Nurse (1902, 1903a, b, 1904 described some cuckoo wasps mostly collected in the area of Quetta, along the Jhelum river, and in other localities that are currently located in modern day Pakistan. Besides Nurse's publications of new taxa, other descriptions of Pakistani species were provided in the fundamental work published by Bingham (1903) 'The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Hymenoptera, Vol. II. Ants and Cuckoo-wasps'. Since then, only sporadic descriptions of new species, or new distributional records, were published by Linsenmaier (1959Linsenmaier ( , 1968Linsenmaier ( , 1997, Rosa (2018bRosa ( , 2019 and Rosa et al. (2021).
The aim of the present paper is to describe a strange new species from the Chrysis splendidula species group, to report a new Pakistani record for the C. succincta species group, and to provide a key to the currently known Indian and Pakistani species of the latter species group.

Materials and methods
The present study is based on material collected in 2003, 2013 and 2019 during three different entomological surveys in Pakistan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and in India (Uttarakhand).
Images were taken with a Nikon D700 (specimens) and Nikon D3200 (internal segments) photocameras connected to a Togal SCZ stereoscope. Images were stacked with CombineZP software.
Members of the splendidula species group can be recognised by the combination of the following characters: transverse frontal carina distinct and raised; apical margin of metasomal tergum III with four sharp teeth, and black spots on sternum II elongate, connected to lateroterga and widely separated in the middle (Fig. 1F).
Description. Face with distinct and raised transverse frontal carina, M-like or biconvex, recurved below; scapal basin medially polished to finely wrinkled; malar spaces usually 1.0-1.5 × MOD; second flagellomere usually slightly shortened; carina on metasomal tergum II indistinct or as an impunctate line, rarely raised and sharp; tergum III with distinct row of small, round to slightly elongate pits; apical margin of tergum III with four sharp, triangular teeth; black spots on sternum II widely separated and elongate, adjacent to lateral margin.
Hosts. Vespidae: Eumeninae (Martynova and Fateryga 2015). Remarks. Kimsey and Bohart (1991) subdivided the splendidula species group into two subgroups: the splendidula s.str. subgroup and the splendidula-senegalensis subgroup. We here consider these two groups as separated because of the different shape of female internal terga that form the telescopic ovipositor (Rosa et al., in preparation).
Chrysis arkadyi sp. nov. is the only known member of the splendidula group from India and Pakistan so far. Conversely, four species of the senegalensis group are known for India , namely: Chrysis disparilis Cameron, 1897, C. hecate Mocsáry, 1889, C. ionophris Mocsáry, 1893, and C. sikkimensis Mocsáry, 1912. Tarbinsky (2002 established the serpentula species group, based on misidentified specimens of Chrysis serpentula Semenov-Tian-Shanskij, 1967. After type examination (Rosa et al. 2017, fig. 122) we include this species in the splendidula species group and we here synonymize the serpentula species group with the splendidula species group. Diagnosis. Chrysis arkadyi sp. nov. is recognised by the following characters: body blue with light blue and greenish reflections (Fig. 1), with black median area of mesoscutum, and with wide green bands laterally and posteriorly on terga I-II; metapostnotum T-like, reduced to a small median area, with punctures smaller than those on metascutellum; metasoma with terga I-II extremely elongated compared to other species in the splendidula species group; tergum III with polished and elongate post pit row area; black spots on sternum II elongate and sub-ovoid. This new species can be distinguished from other blue coloured Central Asian species of the same species group by reduced metapostnotum, elongated metasomal terga and elongate post pit row area. This species is more closely related to Chrysis nohirai Tsuneki, for the elongate shape of metasomal tergum II (type examination based on pictures taken by T. Mita). However, C. arkadyi sp. nov. is easily distinguished by: transverse frontal carina M-shaped; dense body punctation, in particular on mesonotum, mesopleuron and second tergum; structure of metasomal tergum I elongate, 0.6 × as long as length of tergum II and structure of tergum III with post pit row distinctly elongate (1.5 MOD) (vs. transverse frontal carina medially straight and laterally downcurved; body sparsely punctate, with wide impunctate interspaces on lateral areas of mesoscutum, mesopleuron and second tergum, and unmodified structure of tergum I, 0.4 × as long as length of tergum II and of tergum III, with post pit row not distinctly elongate (1.0 MOD) in C. nohirai).
Description. Holotype: Female. Body length 6.6 mm. Head. Scapal basin medially striate and laterally micropunctate (Fig. 1B)   uneven punctures; anterior margin of metanotum with large impunctate and depressed median area. Mesopleuron almost without trace of episternal sulcus, with large punctures and densely, minutely punctate intervals; scrobal sulcus as deep, polished line (Fig. 1A); metapostnotum reduced, triangular, T-shaped, with small punctures and with two largely expanded lateral areas, with raised transverse carinae; posterior propodeal projections lat-erally expanded and downward directed, with basal margin slightly concave. Metasoma. Metasoma densely punctate; puncture diameter about 1/2 to 1/3 of largest punctures on mesoscutellum; metasomal terga elongate (Fig. 1C-F), tergum I 0.6 × as long as length of tergum II; tergum III slightly longer than tergum I; tergum II with weak median ridge; pit row of tergum III deep, with elongated, large pits; post pit row distinctly elongate (1.5 MOD); apex of T3 with four short, triangular teeth; intervals between median and lateral teeth almost equal; black spots on sternum II sub-ovoid, narrow and connected to lateral margins, widely separated medially (Fig. 1F). Colouration. Body blue to deep blue, almost black on ocellar area, median area of mesoscutum and basally on metasomal tergum II; green on scape, pedicel, first flagellomere, postero-laterally on terga I-II, on tergum III pre pit row, and on sternites (Fig. 1C-F); other flagellomeres black; tegula light blue; post-tegula bright metallic blue; forewing slightly infuscate, with darkened radial cell.
Male. Similar to female ( Fig. 2A-D), with deep blue body colour and fewer greenish hints. Paratype body length 6.2 mm. The main dimorphic difference is observed in the metasomal tergum III for shorter post pit area and apical margin with median teeth shorter and closer to each other, compared to apical teeth of female.
Ecology. The Pakistani specimens of Chrysis arkadyi sp. nov. described herein were captured by means of yellow pan traps positioned along one of the roads through the forest zone of the Manshera district, about one kilometer NE of the village of Barhadi. The forest is mainly composed of Pinus roxburghii Sargent (Fig. 4).
Etymology. The specific epithet arkadyi is a patronym honouring Prof. Dr. Arkady Stepanovich Lelej on the occasion of his 75 th birthday and in recognition of his numerous contributions to the study of the Hymenoptera and of the Russian Chrysididae.

Diagnosis.
The succincta species group includes more than a hundred species distributed worldwide, with a large majority known in the Palaearctic region, and subdivided into succincta s.str. subgroup and leachii subgroup (or leachii group according to Linsenmaier 1959). Usually, Palaearctic species are easily recognised by their slender habitus and by their peculiar colouration, with the body largely red coloured. The most diagnostic feature is anyhow the prominent brow, often ridge-like, and the transverse frontal carina which is usually only partially developed; females scapal basin is always polished medially in the succincta s.str. subgroup, whereas it is finely striated in the leachii subgroup, while in males it is finely punctate in both subgroups. The apical margin of tergum III is highly variable, bearing from none to four teeth or two median teeth almost fused together and projecting medially.
Remarks. Linsenmaier (1997) established the autocrata species group, based on Chrysis autocrata Nurse, 1903. After type examination of the latter, we propose the new synonymy Chrysis variana du Buysson, 1901= Chrysis autocrata Nurse, 1903 nov. Chrysis variana (see pictures of the type in Rosa et al. 2020) is a widespread Central Asian species of the succincta group (known from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tadjikistan, Turkmenistan and Pakistan), and apparently unknown to Linsenmaier, as it is not listed in his papers and was not found in his collection. Consequently, we synonymize the autocrata species group with the succincta species group, because it is not sufficiently supported by morphological diagnostic characters. During the examination of the Palaearctic types of cuckoo wasps, the first author also observed that the holotype of Chrysis ewridica Tarbinsky, 2001 (described from Kyrgyzstan, Jalal-Abad) is a female of Chrysis variana and therefore we here propose also the new synonymy Chrysis variana du Buysson, 1901= Chrysis ewridica Tarbinsky, 2001 Multicoloured species, with head and mesosoma green to blue, with mesoscutum golden-red and median area black; metasoma red with wide blue stripes on terga I-II postero-laterally, and on apex of tergum III; terga I-II dark to black medially (Fig. 3)

Conclusions
Indian cuckoo wasp fauna is now updated to 106 species in 20 chrysidid genera and four subfamilies. On the other hand, the Pakistani fauna is still too poorly known and under-studied, and any tentative estimate of its richness and composition cannot be carried out at this moment. It currently includes only members of the Chrysidinae subfamily, specifically 37 species belonging to four genera of Chrysidini (86% species in the genus Chrysis Linnaeus, 1761), two species of two genera of Parnopini, and nine species of five genera of Elampini. From future field studies in Pakistan, we expect records of the subfamily Cleptinae, whereas we do not expect any record of Amiseginae and Loboscelidiinae, being egg parasitoids of Phasmatodea and therefore related to their occurrence in the area. Moreover, the Pakistani fauna is currently mostly related to the Palaearctic one, based on the limited material available for inspection in museum collections, predominantly consisting of types.