Exephanes riesei (Habermehl, 1916)

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 : 74

Exephanes riesei (Habermehl, 1916)

Exephanes spp. (females) are quite straightforward to key and recognise by habitus, within Ichneumonini . Their penultimate tergite (7) is very elongate and the last tergite (8) is conspicuously projecting beyond this. Their ovipositor sheaths are typical (broad), the thyridia are absent ( PERKINS, 1959).

E. riesei has a big white spot apically, but it is not covering the entire tergite. Its temples are normal, the flagellum is black. Its hind femora are not swollen and are also largely black. The hind tibiae are more yellowish than red, and black apically. The gastrocoeli are clearly visible, not small. The cerci are not reaching over the middle of the ovipositor , seen laterally (BERTHOUMIEU, 1895; HINZ & HORSTMANN, 2000). Like other species in the genus, E. riesei has been found hibernating as an adult in caves ( SEBALD & WEBER, 2013), so far, only one similar observation is known from the Low Countries.

First report for Belgium; confirmed in the Netherlands.

MATERIAL EXAMINED:

BELGIUM: • 1 ♀; Hasselt ( LIB); 50°56’00”N 5°19’18”E; 8/vii/2007; T. Smeets leg.; field observation; F. Verheyde & W. Pénigot det. (ObsID: 77412583) .

THE NETHERLANDS: • 2 ♀♀; Maastricht , Sint-Pietersberg (LIN); 50°49’40”N 5°40’45”E; 29/i/2019; W. Vergoossen leg.; field observation, hibernating in marl caves; F. Verheyde det. (ObsID: 167079795) .