Hedychrum niemelai Linsenmaier, 1959

Paukkunen, Juho, Berg, Alexander, Soon, Villu, Odegaard, Frode & Rosa, Paolo, 2015, An illustrated key to the cuckoo wasps (Hymenoptera, Chrysididae) of the Nordic and Baltic countries, with description of a new species, ZooKeys 548, pp. 1-116 : 32-33

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Chrysididae

Hedychrum niemelai Linsenmaier, 1959 Figs 53, 58, 60, 63, 65

Hedychrum aureicolle ssp. niemeläi Linsenmaier, 1959: 38.

Hedychrum niemelai : Morgan 1984: 8.

Diagnosis.

Length 5-8 mm. The colouration is similar to Hedychrum nobile , but the pronotum and mesoscutum of the female are usually bright red (Fig. 53) and rarely yellowish. The mesotibial depression of the male is deeper than in Hedychrum nobile and oval or longitudinal in shape (Fig. 58). The tubercle on the posterior margin of S3 of the female is apically divided and smaller (Fig. 60) than in Hedychrum nobile . Additionally, the punctation of T3 is denser, especially in the male (Fig. 63).

Distribution.

Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden. Common. - Trans-Palearctic: from Europe to China (Heilongjiang) ( Rosa et al. 2014).

Biology.

Habitat: sparsely vegetated sandy areas. Adults are often found on flowers of Apiaceae , Asteraceae and Onagraceae ( Rosa 2004, our own obs.). Flight period: from early June to late August. Host: Cerceris quadrifasciata (Panzer) and Cerceris quinquefasciata (Rossi) ( Crabronidae ) ( Schmid-Egger et al. 1995, Saure 1998, our own obs.). Possibly also Cerceris arenaria (Linnaeus), Cerceris ruficornis (Fabricius) and Cerceris rybyensis (Linnaeus) ( Lomholdt 1975, Morgan 1984).