Meteorus jaculator

Meteorus jaculator (Haliday)

Fig. 102

Perilitus jaculator Haliday, 1835:34. Syntypes ♀, Ireland (lost).

Meteorus obscurellus Ruthe, 1862:29. Holotype ♀, Germany: Ruthe coll. (BMNH, London) examined. Synonymized by Marshall, 1887:108.

Meteorus tenuicornis Thomson, 1895:2164. Lectotype ♀, Sweden: Skåne, Pålsjö (ZI, Lund)—examined

Diagnosis: Meteorus jaculator is similar to M. cis and M. vexator. However, M. vexator is easily distinguished from the other two based on the strongly converging eyes. The eyes are only slightly converging in the other two species, which are most easily distinguished by the length of the ovipositor. M. jaculator has an ovipositor length of 3–4 times the length of the petiolar tergum, whereas M. cis has a much shorter ovipositor, only 2 times the length of the petiolar tergum.

Studied material: ~ 20 specimens.

Description: Size about 3mm. Antennae short, 18–22 articles, slender. Head swollen behind eyes; temples longer than eyes. Ocelli small, OOL=3–4. Eyes small, slightly convergent. Malar space at least slightly shorter than basal breadth of mandible. Face about twice as broad as high, protuberant. Clypeus wide as face and smooth, with scattered large punctures, not strongly protuberant. Tentorial pits small. Mandibles stout, slightly twisted. Precoxal sulcus narrow. Propodeum with weak but distinct carinae. The medial longitudinal area of the petiolar tergum is strongly raised ending apically in reticulate rugosity. Ovipositor 3–4 times length of petiolar tergum. Hind coxa often strongly rugose. Tarsal claws short with no basal lobe. Colour dark brown to black; legs testaceous but sometimes the coxae darker; clypeus and mandibles often yellow. Male same as female except that the antennae are much longer, up to 29 articles, all flagellar articles conspicuously longer than broad. Fore wing vein r is as long as vein 3–SR and m-cu antefurcal.

Distribution: Western Palearctic. Country records: Austria; Bulgaria; Croatia; Czechoslovakia; Denmark; Finland; France; Germany; Hungary; Ireland; Netherlands; Norway; Poland; Russia; Slovakia; Sweden; Switzerland; Turkey; United Kingdom; Yugoslavia.

Biology: M. jaculator is recorded as being a parasitoid on three lepidopteran families (Gelechiidae, Psychidae and Tineidae) (Yu et al. 2005). We found 6 specimens within the SMTP. They were caught from July to October in northern Sweden, predominantly in deciduous forests.