Xenos vesparum (Rossi, 1793)

Benda, Daniel, Pohl, Hans, Nakase, Yuta, Beutel, Rolf & Straka, Jakub, 2022, A generic classification of Xenidae (Strepsiptera) based on the morphology of the female cephalothorax and male cephalotheca with a preliminary checklist of species, ZooKeys 1093, pp. 1-134 : 1

Xenos vesparum (Rossi, 1793)

Ichneumon vesparum Rossi, 1793: 49.

Xenos vesparum (Rossi, 1793) (new combination by Rossi 1794).

Xenos rossii Kirby, 1813 (synonymized by Saunders 1872).

Xenos jurinei Saunders, 1872 (synonymized by Kinzelbach 1971b).

Xenos minor Kinzelbach, 1971a, syn. nov.

Hosts.

Polistes albellus Giordani Soika, 1976; Polistes associus (Kohl, 1898); Polistes biglumis (Linnaeus, 1758); Polistes dominula (Christ, 1791) (as Vespa gallica Linnaeus and Polistes gallicus Linnaeus); Polistes gallicus (Linnaeus, 1767) (as Polistes foederatus Kohl, 1898); Polistes nimpha (Christ, 1791); Polistes sulcifer (Zimmerman, 1930); Polistes semenowi (Morawitz, 1889); Vespula vulgaris (Linnaeus,1758); Ropalidia sp. ( Kinzelbach 1971a, 1978; Benda et al. 2021).

Distribution.

Italy ( Rossi 1793, 1794); Palearctic ( Kinzelbach 1978; Benda et al. 2021); India ( Benda et al. 2021).

Note.

Xenos minor is synonymized under X. vesparum based on the results of a recent molecular phylogeny of Benda et al. (2021). Specimens morphologically corresponding to Xenos minor were nested within the lineage of Xenos vesparum . The former taxonomy was probably misled by the large phenotypic variability of Xenos vesparum , corresponding to different host taxa (smaller specimens of X. vesparum are associated with smaller individuals of Polistes spp.).