Neoxorides nitens ( Gravenhorst, 1829 )

Johansson, Niklas & Klopfstein, Seraina, 2020, Revision of the Swedish species of Neoxorides Clément, 1938 (Ichneumonidae: Poemeniinae) with the description of a new species and an illustrated key to species, European Journal of Taxonomy 680, pp. 1-29 : 15-16

Neoxorides nitens ( Gravenhorst, 1829)

Figs 4C , 5C , E–F

Xorides nitens Gravenhorst, 1829: 847–848 .

Neoxorides nitens var. albicollis Clément, 1938: 518 .

Neoxorides nitens var. nigrifacis Clément, 1938: 518 .

Neoxorides nitens – Clément 1938: 518. — Oehlke 1966: 888–889. — Kasparyan 1981: 94. — Kolarov 1997: 2014. — Varga 2015: 4, fig. 3.

Xorides nitens – Holmgren 1860: 65. — Dalla Torre 1901 –1902: 382. — Schmiedeknecht 1908: 1369.

Diagnosis

Fore wing length 7–13 mm. Neoxorides nitens is distinguished from other species of the genus by the more or less polished and scarcely punctate mesosternum and mesopleuron ( Fig. 4C ). The anterior part of the pronotum is reflexed as a lamella ( Fig. 5C ), a feature which is sometimes less distinct in small males. The male, however, is easily separated based on the black central area of the face, a feature not present in any other species of the genus in the Western Palaearctic. The colouration of both female and male is usually quite dark with the tegulae, sides of the pronotum and palpi black or dark brown, and the coxae orange, devoid of any whitish or yellow spots. However, quite often, the lower part of the pronotum has a white line laterally ( var. albicollis ( Clément 1938)) . Based on the colouration alone, the species is most likely to be confused with N. opacus , but the male of that species has the face entirely white and both sexes have the mesopleuron and mesosternum more densely punctate-rugose on a shagreened background.

Material examined

SWEDEN • 14 ♀, 8 ♂♂; NHRS, NJ .

GERMANY • 2 ♀♀, 1 ♂; MR .

Ecology

In Sweden, N. nitens is probably connected to cerambycids feeding on oak Quercus L. Kasparyan (1981) lists a variety of hosts and though some of them, such as Plagionotus detritus (Linnaeus, 1758) and Pyrrhidium sanguineum (Linnaeus, 1758) , feed on oak and might have been reared from the same substrate, the only authenticated rearing record seems to be from the cerambycid Phymatodes testaceus (Linnaeus, 1758) and the buprestid Ovalisia mirifica (Mulsant, 1855) ( Broad et al. 2018) . The latter is monophagous on elm Ulmus L. sp. and does not occur in Sweden.

Distribution and status in Sweden

Locally abundant in Southern Sweden in areas with oak. Bl, Ha, Sk, Sm, Ög, Öl.

Remarks

The male is very variable regarding the length of the metasoma ( Fig. 5 E–F).

DNA barcode

The barcodes of this species are separated from their closest barcode (in N. collaris ) by 7.3% p-distance. The sequences are stored on BOLD under accession numbers: FBICA016-10 (BC ZSM HYM 05526), FBICA110-11 (BC ZSM HYM 07425), FBICA018-10 (BC ZSM HYM 05528), BCHYM10139-15 (BC ZSM HYM 24104), FBICA168-11 (BC ZSM HYM 07483), FBICA167-11 (BC ZSM HYM 07482), FBICA562-11 (BC ZSM HYM 10727), FBICA560-11 (BC ZSM HYM 10725).

Figures

Fig. 4. A. Neoxorides opacus (Kokujev, 1903) stat. rev., ♀ (NJ), mesopleuron, lateral view. B. N. collaris (Gravenhorst, 1829), ♀ (NJ), mesopleuron, lateral view. C. N. nitens (Gravenhorst, 1829), ♀ (NJ), mesopleuron, lateral view. D. N. opacus, ♀ (NJ), basal portion of metasoma, dorsal view. Photos: Alexander Berg.

Fig. 5. A. Neoxorides varipes (Holmgren, 1860), ♀, MZH, head, anterior view. B. N. varipes, ♀ (MZH), pronotum, lateral view. C. N. nitens (Gravenhorst, 1829), ♀ (NJ), central anterior part of pronotum, lateral view. D. N. collaris (Gravenhorst, 1829), ♀ (NJ), pronotum, lateral view. E. N. nitens, ♂ (NJ), form with long metasoma, lateral view. F. N. nitens, ♂ (NJ), form with short metasoma, lateral view. G. N. montanus (Oehlke, 1966), ♀ (NJ), pronotum, lateral view. Photos: Alexander Berg.