Hedychrum nobile (Scopoli, 1763)

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 : 31

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Chrysididae

Hedychrum nobile (Scopoli, 1763) Figs 4, 54, 55, 57, 59, 62, 64

Sphex nobilis Scopoli, 1763: 297.

Chrysis lucidula Fabricius, 1775: 358.

Chrysis regia Fabricius, 1793: 243.

Hedychrum nobile : Mocsáry 1889: 172.

Diagnosis.

Length 6-10 mm. The male and female are differently coloured. In the male, the head and mesosoma are completely green-blue and the metasoma is golden red (rarely greenish golden). In the female, the pronotum and mesoscutum are bright red (as in Fig. 53) or golden yellow, whereas the rest of the body has similar colouration as in the male. The pubescence is dark brown in both sexes. The species is easily confused with Hedychrum niemelai , but the mesotibial groove of the male is shallower and narrower, often indistinct (Fig. 57), and the female has a broader, apically undivided, tubercle on S3 (Fig. 59). Punctation of T3 is also sparser in both sexes, especially in the male (Fig. 62).

Distribution.

Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden. Very common. - Trans-Palearctic: from Europe to Siberia ( Linsenmaier 1959).

Biology.

Habitat: sparsely vegetated sandy areas, dunes. Adults are often found on flowers of Apiaceae , Asteraceae , Euphorbiaceae , Onagraceae and Rosaceae ( Kusdas 1956, Brechtel 1985, Rosa 2004, our own obs.). Flight period: June to August. Host: Cerceris arenaria (Linnaeus) ( Crabronidae ) ( Alfken 1915, Lomholdt 1975, Petit 1975, Schmid-Egger et al. 1995, Saure 1998, our own obs.), possibly also Cerceris quadrifasciata (Panzer) and Cerceris rybyensis (Linnaeus) ( Alfken 1915, Lomholdt 1975).