Cleptes nitidulus

Cleptes nitidulus
Cleptes nitidulus
Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta) Order : Hymenoptera (Hymenoptera) Family : Gold wasps (Chrysididae) Subfamily : Cleptinae Genre : Cleptes Type : Cleptes nitidulus
Scientific name
Cleptes nitidulus
( Fabricius , 1793)

Cleptes nitidulus is a species fromthe golden wasp family (Chrysididae).

features

The wasps reach a body length of five to six millimeters. The abdomen partly has no metallic sheen. The posterior margin of the pronotum is smooth and has no dotted transverse furrow. The pronotum of the female is reddish in color and does not have a metallic sheen, that of the male has a green-metallic sheen like the head. The first three tergites are reddish in color in the male, the rear ones have a dark metallic sheen.

Occurrence

The species is found in Europe, the Middle East, and Manchuria . They colonize habitats with dense vegetation, such as forest edges, bushes, hedges but also gardens. The animals fly in two generations from late May to mid-August. They are common in Central Europe, but difficult to spot because of their hidden way of life.

Way of life

Like all species of the genus Cleptes, Cleptes nitidulus parasitizes on plant wasps of the genus Nematus and Calirosa . The females dig their way to the cocoons these wasps have made in the ground , bite a hole in the shell and lay an egg. The hole is then closed with saliva. The adults of Cleptes nitidulus like to feed on honeydew . They stay close to the ground in partial shade and avoid warm areas.

supporting documents

literature

• Rolf Witt: Wasps. Observe, determine. Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1998, ISBN 3-89440-243-1 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Rolf Witt: Wasps. Observe, determine. Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1998, ISBN 3-89440-243-1 .