Ormyrus papaveris Perris, 1840

Gomez, Jose F., Nieves, Maria Hernandez, Gayubo, Severiano F. & Nieves-Aldrey, Jose Luis, 2017, Terminal-instar larval systematics and biology of west European species of Ormyridae associated with insect galls (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea), ZooKeys 644, pp. 51-88 : 66

Ormyrus papaveris Perris, 1840

Material examined.

ex gall Aylax papaveris on Papaver spp., Spain, Guadalajara: El Cardoso de la Sierra, 30.VI.02, J. L. Nieves leg. (n = 4); Soria: San Andrés, 14.VII.05, J. L. Nieves & J. F. Gómez leg. (n = 1); ex gall Barbotinia oraniensis on Papaver spp., Spain, Madrid: Rivas-Vaciamadrid, 25.V.02, J. L. Nieves leg. (n = 2); Madrid: Rivas-Vaciamadrid, 13.VI.04, J. L. Nieves leg. (n = 1).

Description.

n = 8; Body length: 1.88 ± 0.24 mm (min-max: 1.53-2.13 mm), width: 0.94 ± 0.19 mm (min-max: 0.67-1.20 mm). This species is similar to Ormyrus capsalis from which may be distinguished in the body fusiform, slightly wider at the level of body segments ABS2-ABS3, tapering towards the ANS (Figs 4A, 5F) and the anteromedial setae of antennal area being relatively short, <0.3 the distance among antennae. Other descriptive diagnostic characters as follows: thoracic setae short; head 1.07 times wider than high (Fig. 8A); face integument smooth; antennae situated at mid position in the face; am short and situated above antennae (Table 2). On clypeus lcs situated at the same level of cs, both equal in length but short and inconspicuous (Fig. 9G); lateral lobes of labrum conspicuous and clearly separated from the medial lobe; mandibles with a single tooth with acute apex (Fig. 11E).

Biology.

The larvae of Ormyrus papaveris are common ectoparasitoids in poppy galls of different Aylacini ( Cynipidae ) species, primarily Aylax papaveris and Barbotinia oraniensis (Figs 13J and K; 14A), and attack the host in the early stages of development ( Askew et al. 2006). We observed the remains of the host larva on the body of a mature ormyrid larva (Fig. 14C). The host larval chamber of Barbotinia oraniensis was normally spherical and regular (Fig. 14B); however, when Ormyrus papaveris attacked the host, the chamber was shorter and irregular (Fig. 14C). The larva of Ormyrus papaveris moved inside the host gall larval cell touching the gall chamber walls with their mandibles, which suggested that during the terminal larval stage, Ormyrus papaveris might exhibit a similar phytophagous behaviour to that of Eurytoma species inhabiting galls ( Askew and Blasco Zumeta 1998, La Salle 2005). In the galls of Aylax papaveris , the host larval cells were regularly ellipsoidal and were coated with a thin scum, whereas the cells attacked by ormyrid larvae were larger, more irregular and lacked the thin scum. Because we observed "in vivo" in dissected galls, the phytophagous behaviour of the Ormyrus larvae during their final larval stage caused the change in gall morphology.