Meloboris alternans (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 : 43

Meloboris alternans (Gravenhorst, 1829)

Just like the abovementioned genus Lathrostizus , Meloboris spp. are relatively hard to recognise. Their areolet and glymmae are present and the distal abscissa of CU is meeting the nervellus in the hind wing. Their propodeum is rather long and has a unique carination ( TOWNES, 1970b).

M. alternans has its temples narrowed behind the eyes, while the clypeus is protruding. The penultimate antennal segment is slender: 1.4 to 1.6× its width. Lastly, the hind femora are 5.0 to 5.8× longer than wide and red (brown), just like at least one abdominal segment. Hosts are mainly Elachista spp. ( Lepidoptera : Elachistidae ) ( HORSTMANN, 2004).

First report for the Netherlands; unreported in Belgium.

MATERIAL EXAMINED:

THE NETHERLANDS: • 1 ♀; Drachten-Azeven (FR); 53°06’49”N 6°09’00”E; 6/ix/2020; H. Meijer leg.; coll. HM; field observation; H. Meijer det. • 1 ♀; Drachten-Azeven (FR); 53°06’49”N 6°09’00”E; 12/ix/2020; H. Meijer leg.; coll. HM; field observation; H. Meijer det.