The parasitic wasp Arotes albicinctus Gravenhorst, 1829 (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Acaenitinae): a presumed parasitoid on the rare saproxylic beetle Melandrya dubia (Coleoptera: Melandryidae)

Abstract

During an inventory primarily targeting rare saproxylic beetles (Coleoptera) in deciduous dominated stands of old forests in the county of Norrbotten in northern Sweden, a single female of the parasitic wasp Arotes albicinctus Gravenhorst, 1829 (Ichneumonidae: Acaenitinae) was found, apparently new to Sweden. It was collected in a window trap attached to a standing dead birch tree. In the same trap two individuals of the beetle Melandrya dubia (Schaller, 1783) (Coleoptera: Melandryidae) were found. In North America, the closely related Arotes amoenus Cresson, 1868 has been observed to parasitize Melandrya striata Say, 1824. This leads us to note the obvious possibility that Melandrya dubia is a host of A. albicinctus.