Hoplocryptus confector (Gravenhorst, 1829)

Verheyde, Fons, Hoekstra, Paul, Libert, Pierre-Nicolas, Meijer, Hilco, Ketelaere, Augustijn De, Vandaudenard, Thibaud, Belgers, Dick & Brosens, Edwin, 1880, Two hundred and five ichneumonid wasps reported for the first time in Belgium and the Netherlands (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae), Belgian Journal of Entomology 122, pp. 1-142 : 59

Hoplocryptus confector (Gravenhorst, 1829)

Hoplocryptus confector is something else entirely in comparison to the other two species reported here. Its mesosoma is black. The spiracles on the propodeum are distinctly elongated (1.4–2.8× its width) and the hind femora are red. Its clypeus has a broad and blunt tooth. The females have a long ovipositor, its length at least equal to the entire length of the metasoma. The males are easier to recognise by habitus. Their hind tibiae (and tarsi) are white basally and their face usually is entirely white (in all cases medially white; SCHWARZ, 2007). H. confector undoubtedly is the commonest species of the genus in the Low Countries. Much like the other species it is often spotted in gardens close to the nesting materials of its aculeate hosts.

First report for the Netherlands; unconfirmed in Belgium.

MATERIAL EXAMINED:

THE NETHERLANDS: • 1 ♂; Veenendaal, Kwintelooyen (UT); 51°59’35”N 5°33’00”E; 12/v/2014; J. Bouwmans leg.; field observation; F. Verheyde & M. Schwarz det. (ObsID: 84372117) . • 2 ♂♂; Utrecht, Soesterberg – Vliegbasis West (UT); 52°07’50”N 5°15’58”E; 4/iv/2020 & 23/vii/2020; T. Zeegers leg.; coll. FV (Soesterberg-project, 2–4.IV.2020 & 20– 23.VII.2020; nr. 12 & nr. 33); malaise trap; F. Verheyde det.