Chrysis subcoriacea Linsenmaier, 1959

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 : 64

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Chrysididae

Chrysis subcoriacea Linsenmaier, 1959 Figs 87, 109, 117, 129, 146, 160, 174

Chrysis longula ssp. subcoriacea Linsenmaier, 1959: 160.

Chrysis subcoriacea : Valkeila 1962: 64.

Diagnosis.

Length 9-13 mm. Females are usually easy to recognise by the laterally coriaceous and dull T2 and T3 (Fig. 109). Males, however, are often confused with Chrysis impressa and Chrysis longula . Compared to Chrysis impressa , the sternites are usually brighter red and the black spots of S2 larger (Fig. 129), the mandible thicker (Fig. 146) and the transition of the lateral margin of T3 into the lateral apical teeth is straighter (not concave) (Fig. 87). Compared to Chrysis longula (Fig. 161), the middle part of the pronotum is not as sharply darker than the margins (Fig. 160), the lateral margins of T3 are straighter, the punctation of T2 is usually finer anteriorly, and the central interval of the apical teeth is more angled (Fig. 87). In both sexes, the head and mesosoma are dorsally dark blue or nearly black with light blue or greenish reflections mainly on the pronotum. The tergites and sternites are red. The body is elongate and often rather large.

Distribution.

Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Norway, Sweden. Relatively rare. - Trans-Palearctic: from Europe to central Asia and Japan ( Linsenmaier 1997).

Biology.

Habitat: forest margins, clearings and gardens with sun-exposed dead wood. Adults often fly near dead tree trunks ( Betula , Populus , Salix ) and close to walls of wooden buildings (log barns, sheds etc.), and they are also attracted to honeydew of aphids. Flight period: late May to late August. Host: possibly Ancistrocerus trifasciatus ( Müller) ( Vespidae ) (our own obs.).