Meteorus heliophilus Fischer, 1970

Stigenberg, Julia & Ronquist, Fredrik, 2011, Revision of the Western Palearctic Meteorini (Hymenoptera, Braconidae), with a molecular characterization of hidden Fennoscandian species diversity 3084, Zootaxa 3084 (1), pp. 1-95 : 55

Meteorus heliophilus Fischer, 1970

Fig. 115

Meteorus heliophilus Fischer, 1970b:284 . Holotype ♀, Austria: Burgenland, Reichnitz, 2.viii.1958 ( Fischer ) (NM, Vienna).

Diagnosis: Similar to M. rubens but M. heliophilus has a larger marginal cell and longer antennae with 30–32 antennal articles (24–28 in M. rubens ).

Studied material: ~ 10 specimens.

Description: Size about 4 mm. Antennae long with 30–32 articles. All articles much longer than broad. Head strongly contracted behind eyes. Eye in dorsal view 2.5–3.0 times as long as temple. Ocelli large OOL=1.0–1.5. Eyes large, not strongly convergent but protuberant. Malar space short, less than half the basal breadth of mandible. Face about as high as broad, not strongly protuberant, slightly raised medially where it is transversely rugose, laterally punctuate. Clypeus protuberant but not strongly, smooth with scattered coarse punctures. Tentorial pits small, indistinct. Mandibles strongly twisted, the upper tooth not long. Pronotum laterally smooth with a little fine rugose sculpture medially. Mesonotum punctate, sometimes the central lobe reticulate-punctate, at least in part; notaulices weakly impressed. Precoxal sulcus weakly rugose, sometimes obsolescent posteriorly. Propodeum shining with weak carinae and weak, largely obsolescent rugae dorsally. Petiolar tergum long, slender, ventral borders meeting beneath at the mid-part of the segment, not joined at the base of the segment; dorsal surface weakly longitudinally striate; no glymmae or dorsal pits. Ovipositor about twice the length of petiolar tergum, thick, strongly expanded at the base and the apical sixth much narrowed. Legs long, slender; hind coxa mainly smooth but sometimes with a trace of rugosity dorsally. Colour testaceous, the legs generally a paler shade of yellow. Male same as female except antennae 31–33 articles.

Distribution: Palearctic. Country records: Austria; Belgium; Bulgaria; China; Czechoslovakia; Denmark; Finland; France; Germany; Hungary; Italy; Japan; Latvia; Moldova; Mongolia; Poland; Slovakia; Sweden; Switzerland; United Kingdom.

Biology: M. heliophilus is a gregarious parasitoid (Tobias 1976, Huddleston 1980). Hosts: Polia nebulosa (Hufnagel) , Litophane ornitopus (Hufnagel), Noctua fimbriata (Schreber) , Xestia triangulum (Hufnagel) , Orthosia stabilis (Denis & Schiffermüller) ( Lepidoptera , Noctuidae ) ( Huddleston 1980).

Figures

FIGURES 80–133. Anterior view of the head of Meteorus species (except for M. politutele, which is depicted in lateral view).