Crossocerus nigritus (Lepeletier & Brullé,1835)
Synonyms
Crabro pubescens (SHUCKARD,1837); Crossocerus diversipes HERRICH-SCHÄFFER,1841; Crabro inermis (THOMSON,1870); Crossocerus melanogaster KOHL,1880; Blepharipus nigricornis (PROVANCHER,1888); Crabro sambucicola (VERHOEFF,1891); Crossocerus verhoeffi TSUNEKI,1967; Crossocerus sudai TSUNEKI,1976; Crossocerus babai TSUNEKI,1979
Description and notes
Distribution
Reasonably widespread across England, rather sparse in south Wales and not recorded in Scotland nor Ireland. It is listed from Ireland by O’Connor et al. (2009). It also occurs on the Channel Islands.
Elsewhere it is known across Europe from Spain, though rare there (Bitsch & Leclercq, 1993), east to Ukraine, northwards to Scandinavia and Siberia. It is also found in Algeria, Mongolia, China and Japan.
Status in Britain and Ireland
This species is not regarded as scarce or threatened.
Habitat
Likely to be encountered in a wide range of habitats, where suitable nesting sites are found.
Flight period
Richards (1980) gives May to July, although Dollfuss (1991) suggests June to August.
Prey collected
Small flies, e.g. from the families Ceratopogonidae, Mycetophilidae, Empididae, Pipunculidae, Dolichopodidae, Chloropidae and Phoridae (Lomholdt, 1984).
Nesting biology
Richards (1980) suggests that the wasp will nest in the cut or broken stems of shrubs and also within stems of bulrush. Lomholdt (1984) broadens this to include more general dead wood locations, noting an association with old human habitations. The nest architecture has been examined by Tsuneki (1960). The basic tunnel may have numerous branches, usually with terminal cells, although they may also be laid out in a linear fashion.
Flowers visited
No data available.
Parasites
Lomholdt (1984) cites the chalcid wasp Torymus (as Diomorus) armatus Boheman (Torymidae), which does occur in the British Isles.
Year profile last updated
2018