Enicospilus combustus ( Gravenhorst, 1829 )

Broad, Gavin R. & Shaw, Mark R., 2016, The British species of Enicospilus (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Ophioninae), European Journal of Taxonomy 187, pp. 1-31 : 13-14

Enicospilus combustus ( Gravenhorst, 1829)

Figs 14A , 18C

Ophion combustus Gravenhorst, 1829: 701 .

Status

A distinctive species of mainly southern distribution. It has not been found in Scotland. Reared from Melanchra persicariae (Linnaeus, 1761) (Noctuidae) .

Material

NMS: 18 ♀♀, 2 ƋƋ, 1 unsexed; BMNH: 41 ♀♀, 14 ƋƋ; material from other collections: 19 ♀♀, 7 ƋƋ, 3 unsexed.

Distribution ( Fig. 18C )

England: VCs 1, 2, 3, 7, 11, 13, 15, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 36, 58, 62, 64, 65; Wales: VC 41, 52; Channel Islands: Sark.

Flight time (non-reared material)

July–October, with the majority in August–September; is on the wing later in the year than E. adustus , E. cerebrator and E. ramidulus .

Hosts

Melanchra persicariae (1) ( Noctuidae ), reported via iSpot (www.ispot.org.uk), reared in Norfolk, released but identified from a photo. Additionally, there are two females in H. Schnee’s personal collection also reared, in Germany, from M. persicariae (Dübener, coll. ix.1985, em. v/ vi.1986).

Remarks

Although very similar in general morphology to E. adustus and E. ramidulus , the colour pattern of E. combustus is distinctive, with the mesosoma extensively black, and the antennae have more flagellar segments (62–70 flagellar segments, modal number 65), especially compared to E. ramidulus , which shares a black-tipped metasoma. Other than colour pattern, though, there seem to be no reliable morphological distinctions from E. adustus , apart from a greater number of antennal segments (but with an overlapping range).

Figures

Fig. 14. Habitus. A. Enicospilus combustus (Gravenhorst, 1829), ♀, Bath, England, BMNH(E) 962204. B. E. ramidulus (Linnaeus, 1758), ♀, Cornwall, England, BMNH(E) 962207. Scale bars = 10 mm.

Fig. 18. Distribution maps. A. Enicospilus adustus (Haller, 1885). B. E. cerebrator Aubert, 1966. C. E. combustus (Gravenhorst, 1829). D. E. myricae sp. nov. E. E. ramidulus (Linnaeus, 1758).