Chrysis mediata Linsenmaier, 1951

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 : 67-68

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Chrysididae

Chrysis mediata Linsenmaier, 1951 Fig. 100

Chrysis ignita var. mediata Linsenmaier, 1951: 76.

Chrysis mediata : Linsenmaier 1959: 154.

Diagnosis.

Length 6-10 mm. Chrysis mediata and Chrysis solida are closely related sibling species, which differ from other similarly coloured species of the Chrysis ignita group by the combination of the following characters: 1) the ovipositor is broad (Figs 91, 100), 2) the inner margin of the paramere is angled (Fig. 137) and 3) the spurs of the mesotibia are of unequal length (as in Fig. 168). Both species are also characterised by the greenish sternites, the rounded or slightly rectangular black spots of S2 (Figs 120, 125), the relatively thick mandible, and the fine and dense punctation of T2, especially in the female (Figs 100, 101). Chrysis mediata is often very difficult to differentiate from Chrysis solida , but generally the body is larger and broader (Fig. 100), the head is narrower in frontal view (only slightly broader than high), the surface of T3 is shinier and the colour of the head and mesosoma is predominantly lighter blue. The colour of the tergites is golden red or dark red (Fig. 100), as in Chrysis solida . The hosts of Chrysis mediata are soil-nesting (terricolous) species of the genus Odynerus Latreille, whereas in Chrysis solida the hosts are cavity-nesting (xylicolous) species, mainly Ancistrocerus Wesmael.

Distribution.

Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden. Relatively rare. - West Palearctic? Reliable distributional data from the eastern Palaearctic are not available. Records from Japan have been found to be erroneous ( Linsenmaier 1997).

Biology.

Habitat: sun-exposed clay and loess walls and banks, sand pits, road verges and meadows. Adults have been found on flowers of Euphorbiaceae ( Rosa 2004). Flight period: early June to late July. Host: primarily Odynerus spinipes (Linnaeus), but also Odynerus reniformis (Gmelin) ( Vespidae ) ( van Lith 1958, Linsenmaier 1959, Banaszak 1980, Morgan 1984).