Pseudomalus auratus
| Pseudomalus auratus | |
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| A live individual of Pseudomalus auratus | |
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| Pseudomalus auratus. Museum specimen | |
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| Species: | P. auratus
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| Binomial name | |
| Pseudomalus auratus (Linnaeus, 1758)
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Pseudomalus auratus is a species of cuckoo wasps (insects in the family Chrysididae).[1]
Description[]
Pseudomalus auratus can reach a length of 3–7 millimetres (0.12–0.28 in). Head and thorax of these little wasps are metallic bluish, while the abdomen is reddish. Head and thorax are hairy.[2][3]
Biology[]
These wasps fly from late May to early October.[2] They mainly parasitize hymenoptera in the Apidae family (Ceratina), Colletidae family (Hylaeus), Megachilidae family (Anthidium) and in the Crabronidae family (, , , , , Rhopalum coarctatum, Psenulus and Trypoxylon).[2] Larvae mainly can be found in blackberry and raspberry branches and dead wood.[2][3]
Distribution and habitat[]
This species is present in most of Europe (UK, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Belgium, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Poland, Hungary, former Yugoslavia, Greece, Canary Islands, Crete and Switzerland, in the East Palearctic ecozone, in the Near East, in North Africa and in Asia (including Russia, Manchuria, Korea and Japan).[2][4] These wasps inhabit open areas, forest edges and thickets where its nesting hosts can be found.[2]
It was accidentally introduced in the United States, probably before 1828. Bugguide
Bibliography[]
- Rolf Witt: Wespen. Beobachten, Bestimmen. Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1998, ISBN 3-89440-243-1.
References[]
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- Chrysididae
- Insects described in 1758
- Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
- Apocrita stubs