Rhynchium oculatum (Fabricius, 1781)

Cassar, Thomas, Mifsud, David & Selis, Marco, 2022, The potter wasps of the Maltese Islands (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Eumeninae), Journal of Hymenoptera Research 90, pp. 201-212 : 201

Rhynchium oculatum (Fabricius, 1781)

Material examined.

Malta • 1♂, Buskett , 20 Jun. 2020, T. Cassar leg. ; 1♀, Żebbuġ, 15 Jul. 2013, T. Cassar leg.; 1♀, Żebbuġ, 9 Jun. 2014, T. Cassar leg.; 1♂, Żebbuġ, 12 May 2020, T. Cassar leg.; 2♂♂, Żebbuġ, 17 Jun. 2020, T. Cassar leg.. GOZO • 1♀, Sannat, Ta’ Ċenċ, 2 Oct. 2020, T. Cassar leg.

Notes.

This species was previously recorded by Valletta (1971), Erlandsson (1972) and Schembri (1980). The Maltese Islands are inhabited by the nominate subspecies Rhynchium oculatum oculatum (Fabricius, 1781), a taxon occurring in southern Europe and North Africa. Another subspecies occurs in Europe - Rhynchium oculatum hebraeum Giordani Soika, 1952, which inhabits the Balkans and the Middle East ( Gusenleitner 1998b; Castro and Sanza 2009). R. oculatum , the largest eumenine in the Maltese Islands, is very common locally and often nests within pre-existing cavities such as hollow reeds and crevices in wood. Its parasitoid Macrosiagon ferruginea ( Coleoptera : Ripiphoridae ) is also present in the Maltese Islands.