Pseudomalus pusillus (Fabricius, 1804)

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 : 15

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Chrysididae

Pseudomalus pusillus (Fabricius, 1804) Fig. 29

Chrysis pusilla Fabricius, 1804: 176.

Pseudomalus pusillus : Kimsey and Bohart 1991: 268.

Diagnosis.

Length 3-5 mm. The species differs from other Pseudomalus species by having an entirely green, green-golden or green-blue body with usually golden reflections on the mesoscutum, mesoscutellum and metanotum. Dark specimens can be confused with unusually dark specimens of Pseudomalus auratus , but the apex of the metasoma protrudes more narrowly, the metascutellum is more elevated medially (Fig. 29) and the pubescence is shorter.

Distribution.

Denmark, Latvia and Lithuania. Very rare. - Trans-Palearctic: from western Europe and northern Africa to Russian Far East ( Kurzenko and Lelej 2007).

Biology.

Habitat: sparsely vegetated sandy areas, such as river banks and dunes. Adults are attracted to honeydew of aphids ( Trautmann 1927) and they are occasionally found on flowers of Apiaceae , Asteraceae , Euphorbiaceae and Resedaceae ( Kusdas 1956, Rosa 2004). Flight period: June to August. Host: Passaloecus eremita Kohl, Passaloecus insignis (Vander Linden) and Pemphredon lethifer (Shuckard) ( Crabronidae ) ( Benno 1950, Wickl 2001). We consider records mentioning other crabronids (e.g. Rhopalum coarctatum (Scopoli) and species of Trypoxylon Latreille) as hosts to be uncertain, because their biology is quite different from other hosts.