Gasteruption laticeps (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 : 33-34

Gasteruption laticeps (Tournier, 1877)

Figs. 121–130 .

For synonymy see van Achterberg & Talebi (2014).

Diagnosis: Body length of both females and males is 8–13 mm, ovipositor length varies between 6–12 mm. Ovipositor sheath is 3.5–5.4× long as third tibia, with whitish apex 1.1–1.4× as long as third basitarsus. Head quadratic with a matte and very finely sculptured vertex, the occipital carina narrow with a small pit-like depression in the middle (this depression can be very rarely obsolescent). Antesternal carina sharp, well-developed.

Distribution: ( Fig. 130 ): West-Palaearctic species occurring in south and central Europe, recorded from the following countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece + Crete, Hungary, Italy, Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom ( Ferrière 1946; Šedivý 1958; Madl 1988; 1989; Pagliano & Scaramozzino 2000; Saure et al. 2000; Broad & Livermore 2014; Strumia & Pagliano 2014; Žikić et al. 2014; van Achterberg 2019; Madl & Mitroiu 2019, Özbek 2020, Wiśniowski 2020, and personal records). Recorded also in Iran and Turkey in the Middle East as well as Morocco in North Africa ( van Achterberg & Talebi 2014 and personal records). It is not numerous in any country and is suggested to be a rarer species.

Šedivý (1958; 1989) recorded this species both from the Czech Republic (Moravia) and from Slovakia. It is a rare species, recorded both from the Czech Republic and Slovakia, but the number of records is low. In Bohemia, it was recorded only in four localities, two old and two recent. In Moravia, the number of localities was nine until 1990 and 12 after 1990. In Slovakia, the total number of localities is 25, and only nine are recent records. The species is distributed mostly in warmer parts of both countries. A new species for Bohemia.

Biology: Recorded from May to September. There are only few literature records on the hosts of this species. Malyshev (1964) reported unidentified species of the genus Hylaeus (Colletidae) and Gyorfi & Bajari (1962) Pemphredon sp. ( Crabronidae ), which is probably an unlikely record. In our experience, this species was often reared from oak galls of Andricus kollari (Hartig) (Cynipidae) from the nests of Hylaeus angustatus (Schenck) (P. Bogusch, unpublished). Recorded on flowers of the family Apiaceae .

Conservation: G. laticeps is a rare species occurring in forest-steppe habitats of the warmer parts of both countries. The number of records in the past and present is similar, recently it was rarely recorded in Slovakia but more often in the south of the Czech Republic. Most recent records in both countries come from our survey on bees and wasps of oak galls of cynipid wasps genus Andricus , and only several records, especially from the Czech Republic, represent specimens collected in the field. Although this species is not numerous, there is no significant loss of occurrence records and I suggest it to be LC—least concern ( Tab. 2).

Figures

FIGURE 130. Distribution map of Gasteruption laticeps in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Full circles represent distribution after 1990 and empty circles distribution until 1990.

FIGURES 121–129. Gasteruption laticeps (Tournier, 1877). 121—female, lateral habitus, 122—male, lateral habitus, 123—female, lateral head, 124—female, frontal head, 125—female, dorsal head, 126—female, lateral mesosoma, 127—female, dorsal mesosoma, 128—female, third leg, 129—male, third leg. Scale bars represent 1 mm.