Cleptes semiauratus (Linnaeus, 1761)

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 : 9

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Chrysididae

Cleptes semiauratus (Linnaeus, 1761) Figs 11, 12

Sphex semiauratus Linnaeus, 1761: 413.

Cleptes semi-auratus : Latreille 1802: 316

Cleptes pallipes Lepeletier, 1806: 119. Synonymised with Cleptes semiauratus by Dahlbom (1854) and synonymy reinstated by Rosa et al. (2015).

Diagnosis.

Length 5-8 mm. Both sexes differ from Cleptes nitidulus and Cleptes semicyaneus by having a transverse foveate furrow posteriorly on the pronotum (Figs 11, 12). The female differs also by its metallic golden red head, pronotum, mesoscutum and mesoscutellum (Fig. 11), and distinctly banded wings (Fig. 11). The head and mesosoma of the male are entirely metallic blue-green. The metasoma is anteriorly non-metallic red and posteriorly black with blue reflections in both sexes (Fig. 11).

Distribution.

Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden. Relatively rare. - Trans-Palearctic/Holarctic? The general distribution is poorly known due to confusion of Cleptes semiauratus with Cleptes striatipleuris Rosa, Forshage, Paukkunen & Soon, 2015 (= Cleptes semiauratus sensu Lepeletier, 1806) by several authors ( Rosa et al. 2015). According to Móczár (2001), Cleptes semiauratus has been found in the Palearctic, Nearctic and Oriental Regions (Sumatra). In the Nearctic and Oriental Regions the species has probably been accidentally introduced ( Kimsey and Bohart 1991).

Biology.

Habitat: forest margins and clearings, gardens and parks. Flight period: June to August. Host: Endelomyia aethiops (Gmelin), Euura ribesii (Scopoli) and Pristiphora incisa (Lindqvist) ( Tenthredinidae ) ( Alfken 1915, Burger and Sobczyk 2011, V. Vikberg, pers. obs.). Several other tenthredinid sawfly species reported as hosts for Cleptes semiauratus might actually represent hosts of Cleptes striatipleuris .