Chrysis solida Haupt, 1957

Paukkunen, Juho, Berg, Alexander, Soon, Villu, Odegaard, Frode & Rosa, Paolo, 2015, An illustrated key to the cuckoo wasps (Hymenoptera, Chrysididae) of the Nordic and Baltic countries, with description of a new species, ZooKeys 548, pp. 1-116 : 68-69

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Chrysididae

Chrysis solida Haupt, 1957 Figs 91, 101, 120, 125, 137

Chrysis ignita ssp. solida Haupt, 1957: 115.

Chrysis mediata ssp. fenniensis Linsenmaier, 1959: 154.

Chrysis mediata of authors, not Linsenmaier, 1951.

Chrysis scintillans Valkeila, 1971: 85.

Chrysis solida : Niehuis 2001: 120.

Diagnosis.

Length 5-9 mm. The species is closely related to Chrysis mediata , but the body is usually smaller and with more parallel sides (Fig. 101), the head is broader in frontal view (distinctly broader than its height), the punctation of T2 is often somewhat denser anteriorly (Fig. 101), the surface of T3 is not as shiny (Figs 101) and the colouration is predominantly darker. The species can be confused also with e.g. Chrysis schencki , Chrysis angustula and Chrysis corusca . However, the ovipositor is broader (Fig. 91) and the inner margin of paramere is angled (Fig. 137) (not rounded). Also the green-blue colouration of S2 and the rounded shape of the black spots (Fig. 120, 125) are characteristic for Chrysis solida .

Distribution.

Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden. Common. - Trans-Palearctic: from western Europe to Japan ( Linsenmaier 1997).

Biology.

Habitat: forest margins, clearings and gardens with sun-exposed dead wood. Adults fly near walls of buildings (log barns, sheds etc.), dead tree trunks (e.g. Betula , Populus , Quercus , Salix ), log piles and poles. They rarely visit flowers of Api aceae (our own obs.). Flight period: late May to early September. Host: primarily Ancistrocerus trifasciatus ( Müller), but occasionally also Euodynerus notatus (Jurine) and possibly Symmorphus debilitatus (Saussure) ( Vespidae ) ( Pärn et al. 2014).

Remarks.

Chrysis solida and Chrysis mediata are very similar morphologically and genetically despite clear differences in their biology and host selection ( Soon et al. 2014). Reliable species identification is not always possible without information on the host or habitat.