Gasteruption caucasicum (Guérin-Méneville, 1844)

Bogusch, Petr, 2021, The genus Gasteruption Latreille, 1796 (Hymenoptera: Gasteruptiidae) in the Czech Republic and Slovakia: distribution, checklist, ecology, and conservation status, Zootaxa 4935 (1), pp. 1-63 : 14-16

Gasteruption caucasicum (Guérin-Méneville, 1844)

Figs. 23–31 .

For synonymy see van Achterberg & Talebi (2014).

Diagnosis: A larger species, the body length of females is between 9–13 mm, ovipositor length 6–9 mm. Total length of males is 9–12 mm. Species with a long ovipositor sheath in females (4.2–6.6× longer than third tibia), the apex of ovipositor sheath is whitish and 0.7–1.6× as long as third basitarsus. Occipital carina is wide, semi-transparent and collar-like, with a typical medial depression, which can be very conspicuous. Gasteruption goberti is similar in general appearance but is usually larger, has an elongated head and only small antesternal carina and third tibia without whitish markings, Gasteruption laticeps has narrow occipital carina with only a small pit-like medial depression, which can be rarely obsolescent. The sculpture of the head of G. laticeps is matte, fine and coriaceous, contrasting to the shiny and punctate head of G. caucasicum .

Distribution: ( Fig. 31 ): West-Palaearctic species. Widespread species in most of Europe, recorded from the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France + Corsica, Greece + Crete and Chalkidiki, Hungary, Italy + Sardinia and Sicily, Israel, Lithuania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, also from Syria and Iran ( Ferrière 1946; Šedivý 1958; Hedqvist 1973; Oehlke 1984; Madl 1989; Pagliano & Scaramozzino 2000; Broad & Livermore 2014; Strumia & Pagliano 2014; van Achterberg & Talebi 2014; Žikić et al. 2014; Ceccolini 2016; Orlovskyté et al. 2018; Madl & Mitroiu 2019, Özbek 2020, Wiśniowski 2020, and personal records).

Šedivý (1958; 1989) recorded this species both from the Czech Republic ( Bohemia and Moravia) and from Slovakia under the synonym G. pedemontanum. Numerous and widespread species, recorded from lowlands to mountains. It is the third most numerous after G. assectator and Gasteruption jaculator with 67 localities known from the Czech Republic and 50 from Slovakia. The number of localities identified before and after the year 1990 is similar (34 to 33 in the Czech Republic and 23 to 27 in Slovakia) ( Tab. 2).

Biology: Recorded from May to September. Hosts are bees of the families Colletidae and Megachilidae : Colletes daviesanus Smith and Hylaeus soror (Pérez) from the first ( Ferton 1910; 1914; Malyshev 1964; van Achterberg & Talebi 2014; van Breugel 2014) and Heriades truncorum and Osmia versicolor Latreille from the second ( Fahringer 1922; Ferrière 1946; Crosskey 1951; Šedivý 1958; Gyorfi & Bajari 1962; Oehlke 1984; Wall 1994), summarised by Parslow et al. (2020b). It feeds on flowers of plants of the families Asteraceae and Apiaceae , and from Dorycnium herbaceum (Fabaceae) and Paliurus spina–christi (Rhamnaceae) ( Wall 1994).

Conservation: Widespread species with numerous occurrence records from both countries. Red List Category: LC—least concern ( Tab. 2).

Figures

FIGURE 31. Distribution map of Gasteruption caucasicum in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Full circles represent distribution after 1990 and empty circles distribution until 1990.

FIGURES 23–30. Gasteruption caucasicum (Guérin-Méneville, 1844). 23—female, lateral habitus, 24—male, lateral habitus, 25—female, lateral head, 26—female, frontal head, 27—female, dorsal head, 28—female, lateral mesosoma, 29—female, dorsal mesosoma, 30—female, third leg. Scale bars represent 1 mm.