Omalus aeneus (Fabricius, 1787)

Wei, Na-sen, Rosa, Paolo, Liu, Jing-xian & Xu, Zai-fu, 2014, The genus Omalus Panzer, 1801 (Hymenoptera, Chrysididae) from China, with descriptions of four new species, ZooKeys 407, pp. 29-54 : 32-35

Omalus aeneus (Fabricius, 1787) Plates 1-4

Chrysis aenea Fabricius, 1787: 284.

Omalus aeneus (Fabricius, 1787): Panzer 1801: 13; Kimsey and Bohart 1991: 245; Kunz 1994: 74; Mingo 1994: 78; Rosa 2006: 101.

Elampus chevrieri Tournier, 1877: 105 (synonymized by Kimsey and Bohart 1991).

Omalus aeneus var. pygialis du Buysson, 1887: 170 (synonymized by Kimsey and Bohart 1991).

Philoctetes japonicus Bischoff, 1910: 438 (synonymized by Kimsey and Bohart 1991).

Ellampus sauteri Mocsáry, 1913: 613 (synonymized by Kimsey and Bohart 1991).

Material examined.

Type material: 1 ♀ (ZMUC), aenea [handwritten by Fabricius] [specimen considered as Type by Zimsen (1964) and Kimsey and Bohart (1991)]; 1 ♀ (HNHM), "Formosa Sauter", "Taihorinsho, 1909. XI.", "sauteri Mocs. type, det. Mocsáry”, "Holotypus Ellampus sauteri, ♀, Mocsáry, (L. D. French)", "id nr. 134845, HNHM, Hym. coll.". Other material: 1 ♀ (SCAU), Inner Mongolia, Helanshan, Gulaben, Dayanggou (39°5'24.90"N, 106°3'32.35"E), 27.VII.2010, Hong-fei Chai, No. SCAU-O0001; 2 ♀♀ (SCAU), Inner Mongolia, Helanshan, Halawuchagou (38°51'33.33"N, 105°53'28.67"E), 10.VIII.2010, Hong-fei Chai, No. SCAU-O0002, SCAU-O0003; 2 ♀♀ (SCAU), Inner Mongolia, Helanshan, Shuimogou (38°57'25.97"N, 105°52'22.90"E), 30.VII.2010, Jie Zeng, No. SCAU-O0004, SCAU-O0005; 1 ♂ (SCAU), Inner Mongolia, Helanshan, Shuimogou, 30.VII.2010, Jie Zeng, No. SCAU-O0006; 1 ♂ (SCAU), Inner Mongolia, Helanshan, Qianggangling (38°53'N, 105°59'E), 3.VIII.2010, Jie Zeng, No. SCAU-O0007; 1 ♂ (SCAU), Inner Mongolia, Helanshan, Halawuchagou 10.VIII.2010, Hong-fei Chai, No. SCAU-O0008; 1 ♀ (SHEM), Inner Mongolia, Helanshan, Gulaben (38°53'N, 105°59'E), 2700 m, 27.VIII.2010, Xu-feng Zhang and Feng-li Cui, No. 34020542.

Diagnosis.

Scapal basin deep, smooth and glabrous. Mesoscutum polished, with notauli indistinct but complete, impressed as fine lines. Propodeum with lateral margin distinctly concave before propodeal angle. Tarsal claw with four teeth. Metasoma oval; apex of T-III with distinct median notch.

Description.

Female (n = 12). Body length 4.5-5.4 mm (Plate 1). Fore wing length 3.3-4.2 mm. MS = 0.9 MOD.

Head. Face with large, round, dense (0-0.5 PD), shallow punctures (Plate 2A). Scapal basin deep, smooth and glabrous (Plate 2A). Ocellar triangle isosceles. Postocellar line absent (Plate 2B). Gena with fine and oblique wrinkles.

Mesosoma. Pronotum almost impunctate medially, with small, deep pits on anterior margin; with large, dense (0-0.5 PD) punctures laterally and anteriorly towards the collar (Plate 2B). Mesoscutum polished, almost impunctate (Plate 2D); notauli indistinct but complete, impressed as fine lines; notaulic pit elongate; parapsidal lines indistinct, similar to notauli (Plate 2D). Scutellum without flattened fovea on anterior margin; with small, triangular and impunctate area antero-medially, with deep, round, dense (0-0.5 PD) punctures, and becoming larger towards alar foveae (Plate 2D). Mesopleuron without striae between punctures (Plate 2C). Metanotum evenly round, with large, deep, areolate-reticulate punctures (Plate 2D). Propodeum with lateral margin distinctly concave before propodeal angle (Plate 2D); propodeal angle distinct and stout, pointing posterolaterally (Plate 2D). Tarsal claw with four teeth.

Metasoma. Oval (Plate 2E), L/W = 11/7. T-I almost impunctate. T-II with fine, dense punctures. T-III with fine, much denser punctures than those on T-II (Plate 2E); apex of T-III with narrow (1/3 MOD), brownish transparent rim, with distinct median notch (Plate 2F).

Colouration. Face metallic blue. Vertex and mesosoma metallic bluish-purple, with medial pronotum and mesoscutum blackish. Antenna black, with scape and pedicel metallic green. Tegula blackish-brown. Leg metallic bluish-green, with tarsus brown. Metasoma metallic greenish-blue, with blackish tints.

Male (n = 3). Body length 4.4-5.0 mm (Plate 3). Forewing length 3.2-3.9 mm. POL: OOL: OCL = 6.2: 6.4: 6.0. MS = 1.0 MOD. Differing from female as follows: face metallic greenish blue; vertex, medial pronotum, mesonotum, metanotum and propodeum blackish (Plate 4B, 4D); with antero-lateral corners of pronotum, mesopleuron, metapleuron, and lateral part of propodeum metallic green; metasoma blackish with metallic green on posterior T-II and T-III (Plate 4E); apex of T-III with median notch deeper than that of female (Plate 4F).

Distribution.

China (Inner Mongolia, Taiwan); Japan; widespread in Holarctic ( Kimsey and Bohart 1991; Kunz 1994; Mingo 1994; Rosa 2006).

Biology.

Collected from June to November ( Tsuneki 1970; Rosa 2006). Two or more generations are observed in South Europe in one year ( Rosa 2006). Hosts include species in the genera Pemphredon , Passaloecus and Psenulus ( Crabronidae ) ( Mocsáry 1889; Grandi 1961; Kunz 1994; Strumia 1997).