Meteorus micropterus

Meteorus micropterus (Haliday)

Fig. 34, 35, 36, 110

Perilitus micropterus Haliday, 1835:27. Lectotype ♀, Ireland:’ British, Haliday, 20.2.82’ (NMI, Dublin).

Diagnosis: The shape of the head of Meteorus micropilosus is very characteristic by having a flattened frons and a strongly protuberant face, a shelf- shaped face. The only other Meteorus with a similarly shaped head is M. salicorniae but there should be no risk of confusing these species since M. micropterus is small (3 mm), black and slender with a round head whilst M. salicorniae is large (4–5 mm), reddish brown and with a transverse head.

Studied material: ~ 150 specimens.

Description: Size about 3mm. Antennal articles 23–26, short and thick. Ocelli small, OOL=3. Eyes small, inner orbits parallel; length of malar space at least equal to basal breadth of mandible. Face protuberant, punctate, projecting outward. Clypeus broad, smooth, distinctly divided from the face. Tentorial pits large and deep. Mandibles moderately twisted, large, stout. Precoxal sulcus foveolate. Propodeum reticulate-rugose, without distinct carinae. Petiolar tergum smooth, ventral borders fused beneath for at least the proximal half of the segment. Ovipositor twice length of petiolar tergum, straight. Legs stout; hind coxae rugose dorsally; tarsal claws without a lobe but strongly swollen at base. Wings short, narrow, usually infumate. Colour brownish black. Male same as female except eyes smaller; antennae with 24–28 articles, and articles longer.

Distribution: Palearctic. Country records: Czechoslovakia; Denmark; Finland; Germany; Ireland; Japan; Russia; Slovakia; Sweden; United Kingdom.

Biology: M. micropterus is a parasitoid of the Lepidoptera family Hepialidae (Huddleston 1980). We found 113 specimens (only 12 were female) within the SMTP. They were caught from July to November but the majority during August and September. They occur in both deciduous and coniferous forests.