Chrysura trimaculata ( Foerster , 1853)

Paukkunen, Juho, Berg, Alexander, Soon, Villu, Odegaard, Frode & Rosa, Paolo, 2015, An illustrated key to the cuckoo wasps (Hymenoptera, Chrysididae) of the Nordic and Baltic countries, with description of a new species, ZooKeys 548, pp. 1-116 : 89-90

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Chrysididae

Chrysura trimaculata ( Foerster, 1853) Figs 205, 206

Chrysis trimaculata Förster, 1853: 307.

Chrysura trimaculata : Kimsey and Bohart 1991: 497.

Diagnosis.

Length 9-11 mm. Compared to other similarly coloured species of Chrysura , the metascutellum is more sharply elevated (Fig. 205) and T3 of the female is longer and more ovoid in shape (Fig. 206). Punctation of the tergites is very dense and homogeneous (Fig. 206). The black spots on S2 are very large, and the eyes are strongly bulging above genae. The head and mesosoma are dark green or green-blue and the metasoma is golden red.

Distribution.

Sweden. Rare. Only found on the islands of Öland and Gotland. - West Palearctic: southern and central Europe, Asia Minor ( Linsenmaier 1997).

Biology.

Habitat: sparsely vegetated sandy areas. Adults occasionally visit flowers of Apiaceae , Asteraceae , Euphorbiaceae , Rosaceae and Salicaceae ( Kusdas 1956, Ressl 1966). Flight period: from April to June. Host: species of Osmia Panzer ( Megachilidae ) which construct nests in empty shells of larger terrestrial gastropods. In Sweden, the main hosts are probably Osmia bicolor (Schranck) and Osmia aurulenta (Panzer), possibly also Osmia spinulosa (Kirby) ( Trautmann 1927, Berland and Bernard 1938, Heinrich 1964, Sörensson 2008).