Meteorus pendulus

Meteorus pendulus (Müller, 1776)

Fig. 12, 22, 50, 72, 116

Meteorus pendulus Müller, 1776:106

Meteorus pendulator Latreille, 1799:138. M. pendulator is an invalid emendation of M. pendulus Müller, 1776 (Yu et al., 2005)

Ichneumon gyrator Thunberg, 1822:261. Holotype ♂, Sweden (UDE, Uppsala) synonymized by van Achterberg et al. 2009:790 —examined.

Perilitus scutellator Nees von Esenbeck, 1834:38. Syntypes, Germany (lost), synonymized by Roman, 1912:289.

Bracon petiolator Zetterstedt, 1838:399. Lectotype, Sweden: Scandinavia Lapponia. (MZLU, Lund) synonymized by Papp, 1994:306 —examined

Meteorus melanostictus Capron in Marshall, 1887:115. Males only from type-series.

Meteorus parvulus Thomson, 1895:2156. Holotype ♀, Sweden: Öland (MZLU, Lund) synonymized by Huddleston, 1980:32 —examined.

Diagnosis: Meteorus pendulus resembles M. ictericus but there are some good characters separating them. M. ictericus has whitish hairs between the eyes and the clypeus, rugose glymmae, and a long ovipositor (2.5–3.0 times length of petiolar tergum). M. pendulus lacks the whitish hairs on the face, the glymmae are smoother, and the ovipositor is short and stout (only 1.5–2.0 times petiolar tergum).

Studied material: ~ 60 specimens.

Description: Size about 4.5–5mm. Antennae long, 30–34 articles. Head always contracted behind eyes, occasionally strongly rounded. Frons with a depression in front of the fore ocellus. Ocelli large, OOL=1.0–1.5 (seldom OOL=2). Eyes large, protuberant, slightly convergent. Malar space equal or a little less than basal breadth of mandible. Face little broader than high, slightly protuberant. Clypeus strongly protuberant. Mandibles long, strongly twisted. Precoxal sulcus narrow, foveolate. Propodeum broad, rather flat, with dense, fine rugosity, with a central longitudinal carina. Petiolar tergum with dorsal pits, shallow glymmae. Ovipositor short, 1.5–2.0 times length of petiolar tergum, thick. Legs long, thin; hind coxa smooth, punctate, often laterally with a trace of rugosity. Tarsal claws with a basal lobe. The pterostigma always uniformly pale testaceous. Forewing vein m-cu mostly interstitial but in some specimen postfurcal. Colour mostly orange-testaceous with sometimes some black areas. Male same as female except eyes smaller and malar space longer; colour darker, the pterostigma often dark with a pale border.

Distribution: Western and Eastern Palearctic. Country records: Austria; Azerbaijan; Belgium; Bulgaria; China; Croatia; Cyprus; Czechoslovakia; Denmark; Egypt; Finland; France; Germany; Greece; Hungary; Iran; Ireland; Israel; Italy; Japan; Korea; Latvia; Lithuania; Madeira Islands; Moldova; Mongolia; Netherlands; Norway; Poland; Romania; Russia; Slovakia; Sweden; Switzerland; Turkey; Ukraine; United Kingdom; Yugoslavia.

Biology: We found 29 specimens within the SMTP. They were mostly caught during July and August in a wide variety of biotopes with a slight preference towards pine forests. Host records of M. pendulus include the lepidopteran families Geometridae, Lasiocampidae, Lycaenidae, Lymantriidae, Noctuidae and Tortricidae (Huddleston 1980, Yu et al. 2005).