Hyposoter albonotatus

Hyposoter albonotatus (Bridgman, 1889)

Limneria (Angitia) albonotata Bridgman, 1889. Lectotype ♁ designated by Horstmann (1972) in NCMK; examined by Horstmann.

Horstmann (1969) synonymized Anilastus melaleucus Schmiedeknecht with H. albonotatus, but in Horstmann (2000) he revised his opinion and synonymized melaleucus with H. seniculus Gravenhorst. He recorded a number of differences, including that the fore coxae in melaleucus and seniculus are dark at the base and the mid coxae entirely dark, while they are always pale lemon yellow in albonotatus.

The combination of all-black metasoma, yellow fore and mid coxae, and strongly contrasting black-white-black hind tibia make this an easy species to recognise. It is most similar to H. albosignatus sp. nov.: distinctions are given under that species. A series of 3 specimens from Norway in the third author’s collection have the hind femora dark brown, but are otherwise identical: this may be a boreal form.

It is common in the UK, but records elsewhere are surprisingly sparse. We have seen specimens from Norway, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy and there is a literature record from Finland. It has been reared multiple times from Hypena proboscidalis (Linnaeus) (Lepidoptera, Erebidae), and the Italian specimen is from H.?obesalis Treitschke, both on Urtica (details in Shaw et al. 2016). Specimens have been taken from June to September, with the peak in July and August.

Three specimens from the third author’s collection were barcoded (BOLD Sample IDs CollHH1212, 3469 and 3470).