Polysphincta boops (Tschek, 1869)

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 : 108

Polysphincta boops (Tschek, 1869)

Polysphincta spp. belong to the pimpline wasps without a closed areolet in the fore wing. Their fifth tarsal segment is conspicuously broadened and their notaulus is present. Finally the abscissa of CU is present in the hind wing and the tergites have rounded swellings. They parasitize arachnids (FITTON et al., 1988).

Polysphincta boops has a mainly yellow scutellum, mandibles and subtegular ridge. It thereby looks like P. longa , but there are important differences in the number of flagellomeres and the pubescence of the mesoscutum (see below).

First report for Belgium; confirmed in the Netherlands.

BELGIUM: • 1 ♀; Oudenaarde, Bos t’Ename (OVL) ; 50°50’06”N 3°38’46”E; 2/ix/2014; Bos Ename leg.; coll. KBIN/RBINS; light trap; P-N. Libert det. (ObsID: 134419328).

THE NETHERLANDS: • 1 ♂; Amstelveen, Amsterdamse Bos (NH) ; 52°17’58”N 4°49’31”E; 25/i/2009; R. Heemskerk; reared ex Araniella spp. ; K. Zwakhals det. (ObsID: 42306613).