Chrysis brevitarsis Thomson, 1870

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 : 66-67

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Chrysididae

Chrysis brevitarsis Thomson, 1870 Figs 155, 157, 172

Chrysis brevitarsis Thomson, 1870: 107.

Diagnosis.

Length 7-10 mm. The species is characterised by its subapically toothed mandible (Fig. 155), which is unique among the Nordic and Baltic species of the Chrysis ignita group. The head and mesosoma are mainly dark blue with greenish reflections, and the metasoma is dorsally golden red or dark red. As in Chrysis pseudobrevitarsis , the spurs of the mesotibia are approximately equal in length (Fig. 167) and the mandible is very thick (medial width more than half of its basal width in the female and more than two thirds of the basal width in the male). In the female, the metatarsus is not longer than the metatibia (Fig. 169) and the antenna is strongly nodular (Fig. 172). The punctation of T2 and the mesoscutum (Fig. 157) is sparser compared to Chrysis pseudobrevitarsis .

Distribution.

Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Sweden. Rare. - West Palearctic: northern and central Europe ( Linsenmaier 1997).

Biology.

Habitat: forest margins, clearings and gardens with sun-exposed dead wood (usually Betula , Populus and/or Alnus ). Flight period: June to July. Host: Discoelius dufourii Lepeletier and Discoelius zonalis (Panzer) ( Vespidae ) ( Blüthgen 1961, Kunz 1994, our own obs.), possibly also Ancistrocerus antilope (Panzer) ( Vespidae ) ( Martynova and Fateryga 2015).