Chrysis leachii Shuckard, 1837

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 : 56

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Chrysididae

Chrysis leachii Shuckard, 1837 Fig. 150

Chrysis Leachii Shuckard, 1837: 168.

Diagnosis.

Length 3-6 mm. The species is similar to Chrysis succincta in having an edentate posterior margin of T3 (as in Fig. 77), but the margin is medially more sharply pointed, especially in the female. The center of the scapal basin is finely cross-ridged (Fig. 150) or it is dull and densely microsculptured. The colouration resembles that of Chrysis succincta , but the mesoscutellum is red (not blue) and the tergites are often posteriorly narrowly green or blue. The males are usually more greenish than females.

Distribution.

Denmark. Very rare. Only one male and one female are known, recorded from the island of Funen ( Helnæs, 19.VIII.1918, leg. L. Jørgensen). - West Palearctic: Europe, northern Africa, Asia Minor ( Linsenmaier 1997, 1999).

Biology.

Habitat: steep sand and loess slopes and stone walls ( Ressl 1966, Kusdas 1956, Gerth et al. 2010). Adults occasionally visit flowers of Apiaceae , Caryophyllaceae and Euphorbiaceae ( Graffe 1895, Linsenmaier 1997, Rosa 2004). Flight period: June to August. Host: probably Diodontus minutus (Fabricius) and/or Miscophus bicolor Jurine ( Crabronidae ) ( Trautmann and Trautmann 1919, Linsenmaier 1959, Heinrich 1964, Gerth et al. 2010). We consider records of other host species (e.g. Tachysphex nitidus (Spinola)) as uncertain due to lack of supporting information.