Gasteruption freyi (Tournier, 1877)

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 : 22-23

Gasteruption freyi (Tournier, 1877)

Figs. 61–69 .

For synonymy see van Achterberg & Talebi (2014).

Diagnosis: The body length of the female is 10–13 mm, ovipositor length 2.9–3.6 mm. Total length of males is 9–11 mm. Species with a short ovipositor, 1.2–1.5× as long as third tibia. The end of the ovipositor sheath is black. In general, it is very similar to G. assectator but differs by the well-developed, although narrow occipital carina. The sculpture of mesonotum is finely rugose but coarser than of most specimens of G. assectator . Third tibia and tarsus are dark brown or black, without a light circular spot subbasally ( van Achterberg & Talebi 2014).

Distribution: ( Fig. 69 ): European species. Recorded mostly from central and south Europe: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Slovakia, Switzerland ( Ferrière 1946; Šedivý 1958; Oehlke 1984; Madl 1990; Pagliano & Scaramozzino 2000; van Achterberg 2013, 2019; Strumia & Pagliano 2014; van Achterberg & Talebi 2014; Žikić et al. 2014; Madl & Mitroiu 2019, Wiśniowski 2020, and personal records). Also known from Turkey and Morocco ( 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. A very rare species recorded especially from steppe habitats and loess walls. Recorded from 21 localities in the Czech Republic, however, all findings are dated prior to 1990, except one record from loess steppe near Hradčany in central Bohemia from 2011. It was not recently recorded from Moravia. From Slovakia it was recorded from 10 localities, and only three finds from the southernmost parts of the country are new (two specimens from Virt and one from Číčov) ( Tab. 2).

Biology: Occurring from June to August. Hylaeus pectoralis is recorded as the main host ( Ferrière 1946; Malyshev 1966; Oehlke 1984; Westrich 1989; Orlovskyté et al. 2018), although this species is a specialised bee occurring in wetlands and reed beds ( Bogusch et al. 2018) and is very unlikely to be a host of G. freyi . van Achterberg & Talebi (2014) reported Hylaeus spp. as hosts of this species. In my opinion, G. freyi is probably a parasite in nests of ground–nesting species of Hylaeus or similar hosts from the family Halictidae like Gasteruption hastator .

Conservation: This species has the biggest loss of localities among all Gasteruption recorded from the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It is certainly bound on steppic habitats and loess walls, and negatively affected by the overgrowing and changes of these habitats into forest-steppes, fields, meadows and forests. Red List Category: CR—critically endangered ( Tab. 2).

Figures

FIGURE 69. Distribution map of Gasteruption freyi in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Full circles represent distribution after 1990 and empty circles distribution until 1990.

FIGURES 61–68. Gasteruption freyi (Tournier, 1877). 61—female, lateral habitus, 62—male, lateral habitus, 63—female, lateral head, 64—female, frontal head, 65—female, dorsal head, 66—female, lateral mesosoma, 67—female, dorsal mesosoma, 68—female, third leg. Scale bars represent 1 mm.