Ophion obscuratus Fabricius, 1798

Mifsud, David, Farrugia, Lucia & Shaw, Mark R., 2019, Braconid and ichneumonid (Hymenoptera) parasitoid wasps of Lepidoptera from the Maltese Islands, Zootaxa 4567 (1), pp. 47-60 : 51

Ophion obscuratus Fabricius, 1798

Material examined: MALTA, Buskett , 25. xii.2010, 1 ♂, emerged supposedly from a larva of Lasciocampa quercus (Linnaeus) ( Lepidoptera : Lasciocampidae ), MZ, NMS. Additional material: Buskett, Verdala Palace, 1.xii.2016 –30. i.2017, 1 ♂ & 3♀♀, in Malaise trap, DM, NMS; Gnejna, 25. xii.2015, 1 ♀, TC, TCC [parasitoids were determined by Mark Shaw; host determined by Michael Zerafa] .

Notes: New record for the Maltese Islands. The specimen purportedly from L. quercus is of a comparable (relatively small) size to those seen from the usual noctuid hosts of this taxon in Britain, and Ophion species normally kill the host as a prepupa. Thus the record seems highly improbable, but the host remains are unavailable for re-examination. Ophion obscuratus is a nocturnal koinobiont endoparasitoid of several noctuid hosts that feed on exposed low vegetation.