Gelis areator

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Gelis areator
2019 10 17 Gelis areator.jpg

Gelis areator

Systematics
Family : Wasps (Ichneumonidae)
Subfamily : Cryptinae
Tribe : Phygadeuontini (= Cryptini)
Sub tribus : Gelina
Genre : Gelis
Type : Gelis areator
Scientific name
Gelis areator
( Tank , 1804)
Gelis areator
Gelis areator

Gelis areator is a parasitic wasp from the subfamily of the Cryptinae .

features

It is a small parasitic wasp about 5 millimeters long with a vaguely ant-like habit, with a large, rounded head, a relatively narrow trunk and a pedunculated abdomen. The ovipositor of the female protrudes straight backwards on the abdomen, it is slightly shorter than the rails (tibia) of the third pair of legs. The species is fully winged and capable of flight in both sexes. The predominantly clear (hyaline) forewings have two dark transverse bands, the outer (apical) transverse band usually has a light window behind the sash (pterostigma). The head and trunk are usually drawn in red and black to different extents, more rarely almost completely red. The tibiae of all legs are basally whitish in color. The free abdomen (gaster) is always red on the front tergites. In particularly bright animals, the body is predominantly red, only the guest end is then black. The animals are finely grained on the upper side, without any prominent dots. An important species characteristic is the shape of the claws on the hind tarsi, these are short and strong, almost right-angled, curved.

Way of life

Gelis areator " is probably the most polyphagous species among the Ichneumonidae of the Western Palearctic ". It parasitizes on a large number of holometabolic insect species, the only thing they have in common is that they live or pupate in more or less exposed, medium-sized coats or cocoons; more than 50 host species have been identified. Pupation cocoons are occupied by lacewings , butterflies and plant wasps . The species also occurs as a hyperparasite on cocoons of parasitic wasps and brackish wasps , which live as parasitoids of other insect species. The habitat and the size and strength of the cocoon seem to be more important for the species than the taxonomic affiliation. In the case of a broad host spectrum, however, it is not specified as the main parasitoid for any of the hosts.

The species looks for potential hosts preferably in the shrub layer and on tree trunks within forests, occasionally also in the upper herb layer. After yellow-shell traps in the crowns of oaks, pines and linden trees, it was one of the most common parasitic wasp species there. They could also be seen looking for hosts on the bark of old oaks. The stripe pattern on the wings is interpreted here as a camouflage costume, which visually dissolves the outline of the animal's body vis-à-vis preying predators.

The adult parasitic wasps fly in Germany all summer (July to the end of October). It hibernates partly as a larva in the cocoon of its host, partly as an imago.

Area and distribution

The species is palearctic , from Europe to East Asia, distributed in Europe from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean. If one considers the controversial synonymization with the nearctic Gelis tenella Say to be justified, there is even a Holarctic distribution across the entire northern hemisphere.

Systematics and taxonomy

Gelis areator is known as Ichneumon areator 1804 by Georg Wolfgang Franz Panzer in his work “D. Jacobi Christiani schaefferi Iconum insectorum about Ratisbonam indigenorum enumeratio systematica " firstdescribed been in which he the insect collection of Jacob Christian Schaeffer that this as" displayed Icones insectorum about Ratisbonam indigenorum coloribus naturam referentibus expressae. "1766-1779 and described, but not yet with had given scientific names, annotated them and given them valid names. There are a variety of synonyms , including Hemiteles coelebs Ratzeburg, Hemiteles pulchellus Bormanns, Pezomachus aberrans Ratzeburg. It is proposed and accepted by most taxonomists to equate the species with the Gelis tenellus (Say) described from North America . Both coincide both in their morphology and in the host range. However , in contrast to the Palearctic form, only females are known of Gelis tenellus , which suggests (thelytok) parthenogenic reproduction. The species forms males in the Palearctic, like many hymenoptera, by means of arrhenotokic parthenogenesis, in which the males develop from unfertilized eggs. It is not known whether thelytocic parthenogenesis also occurs; it would be possible due to the moderate excess of females in the collections. According to an unpublished molecular phylogeny by the Finnish entomologist Ika Österblad, Gelis areator and Gelis tenella grouped as sister groups, which would make it possible to belong to the same species.

Within the species-rich genus Gelis , the species forms the Gelis areator species group with some similar species, including Gelis canariensis and Gelis caudator. The relationship, especially to the far more numerous wingless species within the genus, has not yet been conclusively clarified.

swell

  • Klaus Horstmann: The West Palearctic species of the genus Gelis Thunberg, 1827, with macropter or brachypter females (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae). In: Entomofauna. 7 (30), 1986, pp. 389-424 ( PDF on ZOBODAT ).
  • Martin Schwarz: East Palearctic and Oriental Gelis species (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Cryptinae) with macropter females. In: Linz biological contributions. 41st year, issue 2, Linz 2009, pp. 1103–1146 ( PDF on ZOBODAT ).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Klaus Horstmann: The West Palearctic species of the genus Gelis Thunberg, 1827, with macropter or brachypter females (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae). In: Entomofauna. 7 (30), 1986, pp. 389-424 ( PDF on ZOBODAT ).
  2. ↑ Klaus Horstmann & Andreas Floren (2001): Ichneumonidae from the treetops of a northern Bavarian oak forest. Contributions to Bavarian Entomofaunistics 4: 209-214.
  3. ↑ Ç. Şengonca, N. Leisse: Occurrence and significance of pupa parasites of the single-knit grape moth Eupoecilia ambiguella Hb. In the Ahr valley (abstract) . Journal of Applied Entomology 106 (1-5): 173-176 January 1988.
  4. ↑ Pierre-Nicolas Libert (2010): Contribution à la connaissance de l'entomofaune d'un village famennien I. Cryptinae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae). Entomologie faunistique 63 (2), pp. 47-82.
  5. ↑ Klaus Horstmann (1982): Revision of the Ichneumonidae species described by PANZER. Spixiana 5 (3): 231-246.
  6. ↑ Klaus Horstmann (2007): Revisions of ichneumon wasp species XI. Communications of the Munich Entomological Society 97: 73-80.
  7. ↑ Ika Österblad: Från insecter till spindelägg: Kokongparasitsteklarna som bytte diet: En molekylärsystematisk study av släktet Gelis Thunberg . University of Helsinki, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Department of Biosciences.

Web links

Commons : Gelis areator  - collection of images, videos and audio files