Gasteruption hastator (Fabricius, 1804)

Bogusch, Petr, 2021, The genus Gasteruption Latreille, 1796 (Hymenoptera: Gasteruptiidae) in the Czech Republic and Slovakia: distribution, checklist, ecology, and conservation status, Zootaxa 4935 (1), pp. 1-63 : 25-28

Gasteruption hastator (Fabricius, 1804)

Figs. 80–90 .

For synonymy see van Achterberg & Talebi (2014).

Diagnosis: A smaller species with body length of females 8–11 mm, ovipositor length is 1.8–2.8 mm. Male body length is 8–11 mm. Ovipositor is short, similar to G. assectator , 1.0–1.4× as long as third tibia. Species typical with the colouration, many parts of the body are whole or partly orange or light brown, especially in females. Males are often dark but legs (tibiae) are reddish, too. There is a typical triangular depression in the apex of the clypeus of both sexes.

Distribution: ( Fig. 90 ): Palaearctic species. Recorded from most of south and central Europe, namely Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France + Corsica, Germany, Greece + Crete, Hungary, Italy + Sardinia and Sicily, Macedonia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine ( Ferrière 1946; Šedivý 1958; Oehlke 1984; Madl 1988; 1990; Pagliano & Scaramozzino 2000; van Achterberg 2013; Strumia & Pagliano 2014; van Achterberg & Talebi 2014; Žikić et al. 2014; Ceccolini 2016; Madl & Mitroiu 2019, Wiśniowski 2020, and personal records). Distributed also in North Africa, Middle East and Asia: China, Iran, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia and Uzbekistan ( van Achterberg & Talebi 2014, Özbek 2020, and personal records).

Šedivý (1958; 1989) recorded this species both from the Czech Republic ( Bohemia and Moravia) and from Slovakia. In both countries, it was recorded especially in lowlands in the warmest parts. It is rare and in recent times restricted to several parts of both countries (especially in the south). The number of localities are much lower after the year 1990 in both countries—eight recent and 38 old localities in the Czech Republic and five recent and 20 old localities occurring in Slovakia. In Bohemia, it was recently recorded only in north-western dry and warm regions and one specimen in the south of the country ( Tab. 2).

Biology: Recorded from May to August. This species differs in host biology from most species, because it parasitises the nests of ground-nesting hosts. It is mostly connected with the species of the family Halictidae : Lasioglossum malachurum (Kirby) ( Polidori et al. 2009) , Rophites algirus Pérez ( Westrich et al. 1992) and Systropha curvicornis (Scopoli) and Systropha planidens Giraud ( Westrich 1989) . Ground-nesting species of other families were reported as hosts of this species by several authors: Colletidae : Hylaeus spp. ( Malyshev 1966; van Achterberg & Talebi 2014), namely Hylaeus variegatus (Fabricius) ( Höppner 1904; Oehlke 1984; Pagliano & Scaramozzino 2000); Crabronidae : Lestica subterranea (Fabricius) ( Höppner 1904; Oehlke 1984; Pagliano & Scaramozzino 2000); Megachilidae : Hoplitis tridentata (Dufour & Perris) ( Crosskey 1951; Oehlke 1984; Pagliano & Scaramozzino 2000) and Osmia sp. ( Ferrière 1946; Gyorfi & Bajari 1962; Šedivý 1958; van Achterberg & Talebi 2014), and Vespidae : Antepipona laevigata Bluethgen ( Crosskey 1951; Oehlke 1984; Pagliano & Scaramozzino 2000). It is hard to say if the species is specialised and these published records are based only on observations or if it is a generalist, which invades the nests of many species nesting in the ground or loess. It was reported from Asteraceae , Apiaceae , and sparsely also from Fabaceae ( Dorycnium herbaceum ) and Ericaceae ( Calunna vulgaris ) ( Wall 1994).

Conservation: This species probably has a similar biology to G. freyi and was also recently recorded from a much lower number of localities than in the past. The lower number of localities in both countries is certainly connected with their changes and ill-applied conservation methods in the 20 th century. Classified as VU—vulnerable in both countries ( Tab. 2).

Figures

FIGURE 90. Distribution map of Gasteruption hastator in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Full circles represent distribution after 1990 and empty circles distribution until 1990.

FIGURES 80–89. Gasteruption hastator (Fabricius, 1804). 80—female, lateral habitus, 81—male, lateral habitus, 82—female, lateral head, 83—female, frontal head, 84—female, dorsal head, 85—female, lateral mesosoma, 86—female, dorsal mesosoma, 87—female, third leg, 88—male, third leg, 89—female, forewing. Scale bars represent 1 mm.