Schizoprymnus collaris (Thomson, 1874)

Figs 15–25

Sigalphus collaris Thomson, 1874: 557

Triaspis collaris – auct.

Identification

Schizoprymnus collaris keys readily to genus using the key to subfamily and notes given by Shaw & Huddleston (1991) and also the key to genera by Tobias et al. (1995). There is no key specifically to British species of Schizoprymnus, and this species will not run in the key to European Schizoprymnus by Tobias et al. (1995), which erroneously includes S. collaris in the key to Triaspis Haliday, 1838 . However, the British specimen has been directly compared with the lectotype of S. collaris and agrees well. S. collaris is an aberrant species when compared to other Schizoprymnus and may be distinguished from other British species in this genus as follows: frontal crest absent, at most a blunt ridge; antennal scrobes with regular transverse striations (Fig. 16); lateral carina of scutellum absent (Fig. 18); sutures of carapace weakly developed but present laterally, the first suture perpendicular to the margin, the second suture directed obliquely backwards (Fig. 17); third tergite largely convex with only weak concavity at extreme apex and deep medial incision in posterior margin to accommodate ovipositor (Fig. 19); apical margin of carapace not turned under, so that sternites are not concealed; ovipositor extending beyond apex of carapace by 1.2-1.3 times length of carapace (Fig. 15); pronotum and mesonotum extensively marked with red and hind femur red (Fig. 17).

Material examined

ENGLAND: Wiltshire, Porton Down, The Breck, 51°8’30.9”N 1°38’23.3”W, 105 m, chalk heath, meadow / scrub, ♀, 3Aug. 2012, D. G. Notton, BMNH (E)2012-120, BMNH (E)968229 (Natural History Museum, London).

GERMANY: ♀, pre-1859, M. Ruthe coll., [BMNH (E)18]59.101 (BMNH).

SWEDEN: [Skåne, Båstad], ♀, Thomson coll., lectotype (Entomological Collection of Lund University).

Distribution

S. collaris is rare in collections but has previously been recorded from France, Germany, Lithuania, The Netherlands and Sweden (Thomson 1874; van Achterberg 2009), but is not included in the recent British checklists of Fitton et al. (1978) or Broad et al. (2012) and so is recorded here as new for Britain.

Biology

Host relations of S. collaris are unknown; however, other Schizoprymnus species are known to be koinobiont egg-larval parasitoids of weevils ( Curculionidae), seed beetles ( Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae) and tumbling flower beetles ( Mordellidae) (Shaw & Huddleston 1991; Belokobylskij & Maetô 2007; Güçlü & Özbek 2011). The habitat, where the English specimen was collected is a rare herb-rich chalk heath habitat with Juniperus communis L., Betula L. and small amounts of other scrub (English Nature 1999).

Remarks

A syntype was examined from the Thomson Collection, at the University of Lund, and is designated here as the lectotype in order to remove any possible ambiguity about the application of this name. S. collaris was previously placed in Schizoprymnus by Telenga (1941: 351) and while recently it has been considered a Triaspis, its position in Schizoprymnus is confirmed here.