Flying jewels : Taxonomy and distribution of Northern European cuckoo wasps (Hymenoptera : Chrysididae)

• Main Author: Paukkunen, Juho
• Other Authors: Sääksjärvi, Ilari, University of Helsinki, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Doctoral Programme in Wildlife Biology, Helsingin yliopisto, bio- ja ympäristötieteellinen tiedekunta, Luonnonvaraisten eliöiden tutkimuksen tohtoriohjelma, Helsingfors universitet, bio- och miljövetenskapliga fakulteten, Doktorandprogrammet i forskning om vilda organismer, Vilkamaa, Pekka
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Helsingin yliopisto 2018
• Subjects: hyönteistiede; taksonomia; Fennoscandia
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10138/258648

Cuckoo wasps (Chrysididae) include more than 2500 described species, all of which are parasitoids or kleptoparasites of other insects, predominantly solitary wasps and bees. They favor warm, dry and sunny habitats, and their bodies are typically highly sculptured with bright metallic colours. About 490 species are currently known in Europe, but the actual number of species is estimated at 550-600. The objectives of this study were to: 1) to determine which species of cuckoo wasp occur in Northern Europe, i.e. Fennoscandia, Denmark and the Baltic countries, 2) to assess their valid names according to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, 3) to present an identification key for all species, based on morphological characters and 4) to study their distribution, abundance and long-term population trends. The structure, distribution, and abundance of cuckoo wasps were studied on the basis of museum and private collections, and also all published data of Northern European taxa were compiled. The validity and phylogeny of the morphologically similar species of the Chrysis ignita group were investigated by analyzing their mitochondrial DNA. The population trends of Finnish cuckoo wasps were assessed by studying changes in the occupancy of 10 x 10 km grid squares between two periods, 1840–1967 and 1968–2015. Comparative analysis was performed to investigate the correlation between the population trends and shared species traits. A total of 74 cuckoo wasp species were found in the study area, four of which were new to Northern Europe, and one, Chrysis borealis Paukkunen, Ødegaard & Soon, 2015, also new to science. Cleptes striatipleuris Rosa, Forshage, Paukkunen & Soon, 2015 was described from Central Europe. Chrysis terminata Dahlbom, 1854 represented the valid name for C. ignita Form A, and Cleptes semiauratus (Linnaeus, 1761) was re-established as a senior synonym of Cleptes pallipes Lepeletier, 1806. Two new synonyms were also found. Mitochondrial DNA sequences supported the validity of the most ...