Hyposoter virginalis

Hyposoter virginalis (Gravenhorst, 1829)

Campoplex virginalis Gravenhorst, 1829: lectotype ♀ in UWCP, designated by Aubert (1968b), examined by Horstmann.

We have seen three females in Horstmann’s collection. The species is quite similar to H. vividus, but the contrast on the hind tibia is less abrupt, the area superomedia is broader, the ovipositor is longer and, in the female, the seventh tergite is strongly incised in a V-shape. Specimens with red on the metasoma may be confused with H. barrettii: see notes under that species.

Bridgman (1884) recorded this species as having been reared from Caloptilia stigmatella (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae), but this seems far too small and therefore a very unlikely host. Horstmann had examined some specimens in the Bridgman collection in Castle Museum, Norwich, but it is not clear if these were the same specimens. The specimens in Horstmann’s collection are from Germany and Corsica. Horstmann (2000) records having seen specimens from Bulgaria, England, Germany and France. There are other records in the literature from northern and central European countries, and from Ukraine and Azerbaijan.