Iconella

Mifsud, David, Farrugia, Lucia & Shaw, Mark R., 2019, Braconid and ichneumonid (Hymenoptera) parasitoid wasps of Lepidoptera from the Maltese Islands, Zootaxa 4567 (1), pp. 47-60 : 57

Iconella ? meruloides (Nixon, 1965)

Material examined: MALTA, Wied Għollieqa, 29. vii.2016, 1 ♂, emerged from Ceratonia siliqua seed pods infested with larvae of Apomyelois ceratoniae (Zeller) ( Lepidoptera : Pyralidae ), LF, NMS; Wied Għollieqa, 9.ix.– 1. x.2016, 2 ♂♂ & 1♀, emerged from Ceratonia siliqua seed pods infested with larvae of Apomyelois ceratoniae , LF, NMS [parasitoid determined by Mark Shaw; host determined by Michael Zerafa].

Notes: The material is definitely not atributable to the related Iconella myeloenta (Wilkinson, 1937) although that is a well-known parasitoid of A. ceratoniae . Although smaller and possibly with a slightly longer ovipositor it agrees well with the type of I. meruloides , known as a parasitoid of the unrelated Lobesia botrana (Denis & Schiffermüller) ( Lepidoptera : Tortricidae ) ( Nixon, 1976). New record for the Maltese Islands, but its identity is in doubt pending further material. It is a koinobiont endoparasitoid.