Chrysura dichroa (Dahlbom, 1854)

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 : 87

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Chrysididae

Chrysura dichroa (Dahlbom, 1854)

Chrysura nitidula Dahlbom, 1845: 7, nomen oblitum, not Chrysis nitidula Fabricius, 1775.

Chrysis Dahlbom, 1854: 143.

Chrysis dichroa Dahlbom, 1854: 146.

Chrysura dichroa : Kimsey and Bohart 1991: 488.

Diagnosis.

Length 5-9 mm. The species is easy to differentiate from other North European Chrysura species by its bright red pronotum, mesoscutum and mesoscutellum. The head, mesopleuron, metanotum, propodeum and legs (excluding tarsi) are green or blue, and the metasoma is golden red, as in other species of the genus. The tergites are very densely and finely punctured.

Distribution.

Sweden. Very rare. Only one female specimen is known from Västergötland, southern Sweden, collected probably in the 1830s (leg. L. Gyllenhal). - West Palearctic: southern and central Europe, south-eastern Asia ( Linsenmaier 1997).

Biology.

Habitat: rock mounds, scree formations, rocky outcrops, rock walls and dry meadows, usually in areas with calcareous bedrock ( Kunz 1994, Linsenmaier 1997). Adults occasionally visit flowers of Apiaceae , Asteraceae and Rosaceae ( Linsenmaier 1997, Rosa 2004, 2006). Flight period: late May to mid-August. Host: species of Osmia Panzer ( Megachilidae ) which build nests in empty snail shells, primarily Osmia rufohirta ( du Buysson 1891, Ferton 1905, Malyshev 1968, Bonelli 1974), but also Osmia aurulenta (Panzer), Osmia versicolor Latreille, Osmia andrenoides Spinola, Osmia spinulosa (Kirby), Osmia ferruginea Latreille and Osmia caerulescens (Linnaeus) ( Dalla Torre 1892, Ferton 1905, Grandi 1959, Heinrich 1964).