Anthaxia ( Anthaxia ) lucens urens Abeille

Anthaxia ( Anthaxia) lucens urens Abeille View in CoL de Perrin, 1882, resurrected name, stat. nov.

( Fig. 23 View FIGURES 20 – 24 )

Anthaxia urens Abeille de Perrin, 1882: 146.

This taxon was originally described at the species rank as A. urens , from a single female specimen (MNHN) labelled “Ouedi Harrir [ Syria]” and synonymised by Kerremans (1892) with A. lucens . Since that time, this taxon has remained in synonymy (e. g. Obenberger, 1917; Rikhter, 1949; Curletti, 1994; Bílý, 1997). In addition, A. lucens var. phoenicea Ganglbauer, 1882 was described from Beyrut ( Syria); according to the Code ( ICZN, 1999) this name is unavailable since the author described this “variety” evidently as an infrasubspecific taxon. According to Ganglbauer´s description (he did not designate type specimens), this “variety” is identical with A. lucens urens .

After having studied the holotype of A. urens , I found characters (see key above) that enable the resurrection of this taxon as a distinct, well­characterized, eastern subspecies of A. lucens .

Further specimens studied: Syria, Bludan, 30.v.2000, 1650 m, Baiocchi leg. ( 10 males, 11 female); Turkey, prov. Isparta, Eġridir, 10.vi.1973 ( 1 female); Turkey, prov. Içel, Mersin, 1887, Holtz leg. ( 1 female).