Helcostizus restaurator (Fabricius, 1775)

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 : 58

Helcostizus restaurator (Fabricius, 1775)

The only species in its genus in Western Continental Europe. Typical (but not so typical for Cryptini ) the areolet is small and open. Furthermore, H. restaurator has a stout first tergite (the length is less than twice the width) and the basal carina on the propodeum is almost central and strongly angled while the apical carina is absent ( TOWNES, 1970a). Superficially it resembles Deuteroxorides elevator (Panzer, 1799) , but the ovipositor is shorter and the hind tarsi are not white. Its tegulae are white instead of creamy. Our second observation has quite some ecological importance. It was found searching insects, raking pine needles in late autumn. This suggests it could be hibernating as an adult, which has not been recorded for this species (see also YU et al., 2012). It is a parasitoid of several Coleoptera connected to conifers.

First report for the Netherlands; confirmed in Belgium.

MATERIAL EXAMINED:

BELGIUM: • 1 ♀; Moerbeke , Heidebos (OVL); 51°10’54”N 3°54’39”E; 16/iv/2015; B. Lutin-Smet leg.; field observation; F. Verheyde det. (ObsID: 101477985) .

THE NETHERLANDS: • 1 ♀; Eindhoven , Stratumse Heide (NB); 51°24’31”N 5°30’28”E; 20/v/2015; R. Aussems leg.; field observation; F. Verheyde & W. Pénigot det. (ObsID: 102473401) . • 1 ♀; Bergen , Maasduinen (LIN); 51°35’37”N 6°06’25”E; 11/xi/2019; T. Martens; field observation; F. Verheyde & W. Pénigot det. (ObsID: 182132871) .