Enicospilus ramidulus ( Linnaeus, 1758 )

Broad, Gavin R. & Shaw, Mark R., 2016, The British species of Enicospilus (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Ophioninae), European Journal of Taxonomy 187, pp. 1-31 : 23-24

Enicospilus ramidulus ( Linnaeus, 1758)

Figs 2B , 11B , 18E

Ichneumon ramidulus Linnaeus, 1758: 566 .

Sphex truncatus Poda, 1761: 107 .

Henicospilus instabilis Kokujev, 1907: 174 .

Status

A common and widespread species, regular in light traps and rather frequently reared from Noctuidae , particularly of the subfamily Hadeninae .

Material

NMS: 53 ♀♀, 20 ƋƋ, 9 unsexed; BMNH: 80 ♀♀, 31 ƋƋ, 3 unsexed; material from other collections: 60 ♀♀, 23 ƋƋ, 14 unsexed.

Distribution ( Fig. 18E )

England: VCs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 36, 39, 40, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 61, 62, 63, 65; Scotland: VCs 75, 84, 86, 87, 89, 90, 96, 97, 98, 99, 101, 105, 106, 110; Wales: VC 41, 45, 48, 50, 52; Ireland: H5; Channel Islands: Jersey.

Flight time (non-reared material)

June–September, with the majority in July.

Hosts

Actebia praecox ( Linnaeus, 1758) ( Noctuidae : Noctuinae ) (1) (no collector specified; BMNH);? Anarta myrtilli (Linnaeus, 1761) (1) ( T.H. Ford) ( NMS); Lacanobia oleracea ( Linnaeus, 1758) (3) (P. Baker, M. R. Shaw) ( NMS); Melanchra pisi ( Linnaeus, 1758) (28) (P. Baker, A.E. Cockayne, A. Lord, G. T. Lyle, M. R. Shaw) ( BMNH, NMS); Phlogophora meticulosa ( Linnaeus, 1758) (1) (P. Baker) ( NMS) (all Noctuidae , mostly Hadeninae ).

Additional material in NMS: Bulgaria: Kavarna; Finland: Houtskär; France: Alpes-Maritimes, Côted’Or, Dordogne, 1 ex Panolis flammea (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775) (M.R. Shaw) ; Spain: Zaragoza, 1 ex Lacanobia oleracea (G.E. King) .

Remarks

Amongst the British Enicospilus species with two discrete, pigmented fore wing sclerites, E. ramidulus is distinctive in that the mesosoma is entirely testaceous and the metasoma apically sharply black, from the 5th or 6th tergite onwards. Structurally very similar to E. adustus and E. combustus , but E. ramidulus has shorter antennae (54–60 flagellar segments, modal value 56) and colour patterns are invariable. According to published records this is a very widely distributed species; however, there are other, similar species in various parts of the world that have been misidentified as E. ramidulus .

Figures

Fig. 2. Fore wing discosubmarginal cell. A. Enicospilus undulatus (Gravenhorst, 1829). B. E. ramidulus (Linnaeus, 1758). C. E. merdarius (Gravenhorst, 1829). D. E. repentinus (Holmgren, 1860).

Fig. 11. Fore wing (distal to left), vein cu-a arrowed. A. Enicospilus merdarius (Gravenhorst, 1829). B. E. repentinus (Holmgren, 1860).

Fig. 18. Distribution maps. A. Enicospilus adustus (Haller, 1885). B. E. cerebrator Aubert, 1966. C. E. combustus (Gravenhorst, 1829). D. E. myricae sp. nov. E. E. ramidulus (Linnaeus, 1758).