Meteorus cinctellus

Meteorus cinctellus (Spinola)

Fig. 42, 44, 90

Bracon cinctellus Spinola, 1808:135, Holotype ♂, Italy (MZS, Turin).

Bracon necator Trentepohl, Isis 1829 p 958 n. 75 ♀, [excl. Synon.] of Bracon cinctellus Nees 1811

Perilitus fuscipes Wesmael, 1835:48, Holotype ♀, Belgium: Brussels, coll. Wesmael (IRSNB, Brussels) synonymized by Huddleston, 1980:25 – examined.

Meteorus tenellus Marshall, 1887:125. Lectotype ♀, Great Britain (BMNH, London), synonymized by Huddleston, 1980:25 — examined.

Diagnosis: Meteorus cinctellus has a blunt tubercle in front of the fore ocellus, the pterostigma is dark brown with white edges, the subapical antennal articles are as longer as broad and the ovipositor is 2.0–2.5 times petiolar tergum. Other similar species, such as M. tenellus, M. artocercus and M. colon, also have the blunt tubercle but have a pale pterostigma without white edges.

Studied material: ~ 100 specimens.

Description: Size about 4mm. Antennae with 24–29 articles; Subapical antennal articles as longer as broad. Frons depressed with a blunt tubercle in front of the fore ocellus. Ocelli small, OOL=2.5. Eyes large, protuberant and strongly convergent. Malar space shorter than the basal breadth of the mandible. Face about as high as broad with a medial tubercle just below the antennal sockets. Clypeus narrow, strongly protuberant. Tentorial pits deep. Mandible small and strongly twisted. Precoxal sulcus deep, foveolate and generally broadened anteriorly. Propodeum rather flat, regularly reticulate-rugose, sometimes with a strong medial transverse carina. Petiolar tergum long, dorsal pits absent. Ventral borders generally touching but sometimes open. Ovipositor 2.0–2.5 times length of petiolar tergum. Legs long and slender; hind coxae rugose. Tarsal claws small and with a distinct basal lobe. Colour black/yellow; legs and generally 3 rd abdominal tergite testaceous. ♂ antenna 28–30 articles; ocelli slightly larger; eyes less strongly convergent; colour often darker.

Distribution: Palearctic. Country records: Albania; Austria; Belgium; Bulgaria; China; Czechoslovakia; Denmark; Finland; France; Germany; Greece; Hungary; Ireland; Italy; Japan; Korea; Latvia; Madeira Islands; Netherlands; New Zealand; Norway; Poland; Portugal; Romania; Slovenia; Sweden; Switzerland; Ukraine; United Kingdom; Yugoslavia.

Biology: Meteorus cinctellus parasitizes on Tortricidae (Lepidoptera) (Yu et al. 2005). We found 99 specimens within the SMTP; they were caught in a variety of biotopes, including deciduous and coniferous forests. Flying time is from June to September.

Remarks: The name Ichneumon necator (Fabricius, 1777) is not the type of M. cinctellus (Yu et al. 2005, Broad et al. 2009). The name necator (Fabricius, 1777) refers to the Microgastrinae species Apanteles necator and is not a Euphorinae. In the description of Ichneumon necator (Fabricius, 1777:246) there is a reference to one of Rösel’s illustrations (Table IV Fig. 4 in Rösel). The depicted braconid is clearly a Microgastrinae.