Venturia canescens (Gravenhorst, 1829)

Verheyde, Fons, Hoekstra, Paul, Libert, Pierre-Nicolas, Meijer, Hilco, Ketelaere, Augustijn De, Vandaudenard, Thibaud, Belgers, Dick & Brosens, Edwin, 1880, Two hundred and five ichneumonid wasps reported for the first time in Belgium and the Netherlands (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae), Belgian Journal of Entomology 122, pp. 1-142 : 48-49

Venturia canescens (Gravenhorst, 1829) (Fig. 18 A–B)

One of the more straightforward genera within the former tribe of Campoplegini . The genus consists of more slender species, with the propodeum reaching beyond the middle of the hind coxa. The propodeal area superomedia and petiolaris may be combined but are not depressed. The hind wing has the distal abscissa of CU (a faint furrow) nearly always connected to the nervellus ( TOWNES, 1970b; HORSTMANN, 1973b).

V. canescens is by far the commonest species of the genus. Its area superomedia is distinctly elongated (at least 1.5x its width; see Fig. 18 B), its pterostigma is brown and the metasoma is (extensively) reddish ( VAS, 2019; see Fig. 18 A). Ecology and biology wise it is one of the more well studied campoplegines or even ichneumonid wasps overall (BROAD et al., 2018). Just like the imported species Ctenochares bicolorus (Linnaeus, 1767) it is one of the few Western European species that can be found in warehouses or storerooms. It is specialised in finding its hosts in these places: flour and meal moths from the lepidopteran family Pyralidae . Many of our reported specimens were found indoors. Some of them were of poor photographic quality and could not be integrated, but are highly likely to be reliable observations, knowing the context of these findings. Hypothetically the species has benefitted from the growing economy or habit of feeding garden birds. It is now widely spread; with the Netherlands being the latest country in Western Europe to report the species (FAUNA EUROPAEA).

First report for the Netherlands; confirmed in Belgium.

MATERIAL EXAMINED:

BELGIUM: • 1 ♀; Brugge (WVL); 51°13’10”N 3°13’07”E; 13/vi/2019; J. Vernieuwe leg.; field observation; F. Verheyde det. (ObsID: 174350349) . • 1 ♀; Lier (AN); 51°08’42”N 4°36’00”E; 4/iv/2020; L. Vaes leg.; field observation, found in a mix of muesli; F. Verheyde det. (ObsID: 187941350) . • 1 ♀; Beernem (WVL); 51°06’44”N 3°19’29”E; 8/ix/2020; A. De Ketelaere leg.; coll. ADK; field observation, indoors; A. De Ketelaere & F. Verheyde det. (ObsID: 202192627); Fig. 18A–B .

THE NETHERLANDS: • 1 ♀; Pijnacker (ZH); 52°00’45”N 4°27’00”E; 16/ix/2018; H. van Yperen leg.; field observation; F. Verheyde det. (ObsID: 162544861) . • 1 ♀; Zwolle , Stadshagen (OV); 52°00’45”N 4°27’00”E; 7/viii/2020; H. van Riessen leg.; field observation; F. Verheyde det. (ObsID: 197969142) . • 1 ♀; Wageningen , Blauwe Bergen (GE); 51°58’49”N 5°39’39”E; 9/ix/2020; B. De Vries leg.; field observation; F. Verheyde det. (ObsID: 199813150) . • 1 ♀; Veenendaal (UT); 52°01’15”N 5°35’09”E; 19/ix/2020; Jochem leg.; field observation; F. Verheyde det. (ObsID: 200346803) . • 1 ♀; Dordrecht (ZH); 51°48’29”N 4°41’20”E; 29/ix/2020; A. van den Ende leg.; field observation; F. Verheyde det. (ObsID: 200823044) .