Sunday 24 March 2013

Coleophora glaucicolella parasitoid - Hyssopus olivaceus, Thomson, 1878

I have been rearing some Coleophora glaucicolella from the Compact Rush (Juncus conglomeratus) at Ben Rhydding Gravel Pits. The first imago to emerge is that of a parasitoid; the chalcid

Hyssopus olivaceus Thomson, 1878.


As described by Dick Askew (Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects, 1968), the scutellum is entirely reticulately sculptured and the gaster of this female is approximately 1.5 times as long as broad.

The notaulices converge and intercept the axillae only slightly outside their inner angles.