Nemeritis ssp. Holmgren, 1860

Scaramozzino, Pier Luigi, Giovanni, Filippo Di, Loni, Augusto, Ricciardi, Renato & Lucchi, Andrea, 2018, Updated list of the insect parasitoids (Insecta, Hymenoptera) associated with Lobesiabotrana (Denis & Schiffermueller, 1775) (Lepidoptera, Tortricidae) in Italy. 2. Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Anomaloninae and Campopleginae, ZooKeys 772, pp. 47-95 : 47

Nemeritis ssp. Holmgren, 1860

Nemeritis sp.: Del Guercio 1899: 155-156.

Italian distribution of reared parasitoids.

Tuscany: Del Guercio 1899.

Taxonomic notes.

The limited information provided by Del Guercio (1899) does not allow designation of the two species of Nemeritis to any of the parasitoids associated to EGVM. Though Leonardi (1925) included the work of Del Guercio in his bibliography, he did not quote these species, which are not mentioned by any other author.

The species of Nemeritis have been divided by Horstmann (1975) in four groups: caudatula- and elegans -group, which parasitizes Raphidioptera , macrocentra-group which parasitizes Coleoptera ( Cleridae , Malachiidae ) and Lepidoptera and lissonotoides-group for which no host records are available ( Horstmann 1994). Even though most of the species seem to attack concealed hosts under the bark or in bark crevices ( Horstmann 1975), few species of the macrocentra-group have been recorded on moth species of economic importance, like the Mediterranean flour moth ( Ephestia kuehniella Zeller, 1879), the European grain moth ( Nemapogon granella (Linnaeus, 1758)) or the strawberry fruitworm ( Cnephasia longana (Haworth, 1811)) ( Horstmann 1994; Yu et al. 2012).

In the past, the genus Nemeritis included species of other campoplegine genera like Campoplex , Cymodusa or Venturia ( Thomson 1887, Schmiedeknecht 1909). It is possible that the two species cited as Nemeritis sp. by Del Guercio (1899) are actually Venturia canescens (Gravenhorst, 1829). Schmiedeknecht, who identified ichneumonids obtained by Del Guercio (1899, page 156), refers to Venturia canescens as Nemeritis canescens in his fundamental work on European ichneumonids ( Schmiedeknecht 1909, page 1688). At least the general habitus and wing venation in the picture of the second species ( Del Guercio 1899, page 156) fit with the general aspect of V. canescens .