Hyposoter barrettii

Hyposoter barrettii (Bridgman, 1881)

Limneria barrettii Bridgman, 1881: lectotype ♀ in NCMK, designated by Horstmann (1972) ; examined by Horstmann.

syn. Limneria teucrii Bridgman, 1889: Morley (1915)

Likely to be most confused with H. didymator, which it closely resembles. The smooth area of the speculum is normally quite marked in the latter, while in barrettii it is entirely absent. In the female, the strong V-shaped incision on the seventh tergite in barrettii immediately separates this species from didymator. The white medial patch on the hind tibia is considerably longer in barrettii than in didymator, and the ovipositor sheaths in barrettii are more than half the length of the first tergite, while they are only about one third in didymator. Specimens of H. virginalis with some red on the metasoma may be confused with the present species, as this also has an incised seventh tergite, and ovipositor sheaths similar to those of barrettii. However, specimens of virginalis which we have seen have only a vague dark reddish wash on the second and third tergites, whereas there are normally large and clear orange areas on the same tergites in barrettii.

So far as is known, the species is a specialist parasitoid of members of the family Pterophoridae (Lepidoptera), including Capperia brittaniodactyla (Gregson), Merrifieldia baliodactyla (Zeller) and Pterophorus pentadactylus (Linnaeus) (details in Shaw et al. 2016). There are 5 ♀♀ in NHMUK reared from C. brittaniodactyla and 3 specimens reared from “ Oxyptilus heterodactylus ”, which probably refers to Pselnophorus heterodactylus (M̧ller), also in Pterophoridae. We have seen specimens from the UK and Spain. There are literature reports of uncertain reliability from Sweden, Germany, France, Austria, Hungary, Romania and the former Yugoslavia: probable confusion with H. didymator makes the reliability of these particularly uncertain. We have seen specimens taken in all months from May to September, but with a strong peak in July.