Meteorus rufus (De Geer)

Stigenberg, Julia & Ronquist, Fredrik, 2011, Revision of the Western Palearctic Meteorini (Hymenoptera, Braconidae), with a molecular characterization of hidden Fennoscandian species diversity 3084, Zootaxa 3084 (1), pp. 1-95 : 68-69

Meteorus rufus (De Geer)

Fig. 123

Ichneumon rufus De Geer, 1778:596 . Type material lost.

Perilitus unicolor Wesmael, 1835:41 . Lectotype ♀, Belgium: Brussels, coll. Wesmael (IRSNB, Brussels)—examined.

Saprotichus chinensis Holmgren, 1868:430 . Holotype ♀, China (NHRS, Stockholm), synonymized by Huddleston, 1980:51 — examined.

Diagnosis: Meteorus rufus is similar to M. pendulus but it has longer antennae with more antennal articles (35–36 articles in the former, 30–34 in the latter) and larger ocelli (OOL= 2 in the former, OOL= 1–1.5 in the latter).

Studied material: ~ 10 specimens.

Description: Size about 5.5 mm. Antennae long, up to 36 articles; all articles of flagellum distinctly longer than broad, most at least twice as long as broad. Ocelli large, OOL=2 times, protuberant. Eyes protuberant, slightly convergent. Malar space about equal in length to basal breadth of mandible. Face 1.5–2.0 times as broad as high, not strongly protuberant but distinctly raised medially and there with transverse structure. Clypeus strongly protuberant, densely rugulose-punctate with scattered long setae. Mandibles long, slender, strongly twisted. Precoxal sulcus broadened, strongly reticulate-rugose. Propodeum broad and with no distinct carinae dorsally. Petiolar tergum stout with large dorsal pits and distinct glymmae; ventral borders of petiolar tergum only narrowly separated at mid point of segment; dorsal surface longitudinally striate. Ovipositor twice the length of petiolar tergum, thick, strongly swollen at base, straight. Hind coxa foveolate laterally, often with a few strong rugae dorsally. Tarsal claws with a large basal lobe. Colour testaceous, base of petiolar tergum paler yellow.

Distribution: Western Palearctic. Country records: Austria; Belgium; Croatia; Cyprus; Czechoslovakia; France; Germany; Hungary; India; Ireland; Israel; Italy; Poland; Romania; Sweden; Switzerland; Turkey; Ukraine; United Kingdom; Yugoslavia.

Biology: Meteorus rufus is recorded in the literature as a parasitoid of seven different lepidopteran families: Geometridae , Lymantriidae , Noctuidae , Pieridae , Pyralidae , Tortricidae and Zygaenidae ( Huddleston 1980, Yu et al. 2005). The specimens we studied were all associated with Zygaenidae when host data were available.

Remarks: De Geer collected a specimen at his estate in Sweden that he described in 1778 as Ichneumon rufus . According to the German Braconidae checklist by Belokobylskij et al. (2003), Ichneumon rufus De Geer, 1778 is a synonym for M. unicolor . We have studied the type material of M. unicolor (lectotype) from Belgium and conclude that it agrees with our interpretation of the description of M. rufus . We have also studied the De Geer collection but, as Huddleston wrote in his revision in 1980, there is no specimen of Ichneumon rufus present and no pinhole in the cork below the label. The specimen has probably been lost prior to the relocation of the De Geer specimens into new drawers.

Figures

FIGURES 80–133. Anterior view of the head of Meteorus species (except for M. politutele, which is depicted in lateral view).