Scambus puniceus (Schmiedeknecht, 1914)

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 : 109

Scambus puniceus (Schmiedeknecht, 1914) (Fig. 57)

Scambus spp. belong to more robust Pimplinae with a full areolet in the fore wing. On habitus species are sometimes difficult to distinguish from for example Endromopoda spp. , where species have an ovipositor tip with teeth, a mid-tarsus with the fifth tarsal segment at least 0.9× the length of the first tarsal segment and with the hind tarsal claws bevelled at apex (FITTON et al., 1988).

Scambus puniceus belongs to the S. brevicornis group and has recently been reaffirmed as a valid species. The females in this group are defined by the colouration of the hind tibiae (median-dorsal yellow-red; light reddish brown in S. brevicornis s.s. or whitish in the remaining species), pterostigma (light yellowish-brown with whitish posterior margin) and hind coxae (black or red). S. puniceus is easy to recognise in the group because of its unique metasoma which is red brown (Fig. 57), at least laterally. Its ovipositor is 2.2–2.3× the length of the hind tibiae ( HORSTMANN, 2010). Like other species in the genus, it appears to be mainly active from July to September. Its hosts are not known. One wasp was observed ovipositing on the flower heads of Tripolium pannonicum in a coastal environment, so at least one host should be associated with this plant. First report for Belgium; unreported in the Netherlands.

MATERIAL EXAMINED:

BELGIUM: • 1 ♀; Knokke , Het Zwin - Duinengordel (WVL); 51°21’56”N 3°21’16”E; 19/vii/2017; P. Vanhauwere leg. [UGent]; coll. KBIN/RBINS (ENDURE-project, 160_ZWN_10_N); field observation; F. Verheyde & O. Varga det.; Fig. 57 . • 1 ♀; Knokke , Het Zwin (WVL); 51°21’42”N 3°21’53”E; 16/ix/2020; W. Decock & J. Mees leg.; field observation, oviposition on Tripolium pannonicum ; O. Varga det. (ObsID: 200213741) .