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Metoecus paradoxus (Linnaeus, 1760) (Coleoptera: Ripiphoridae), a new species for the fauna of Israel

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Oz Rittner at Tel Aviv University
Oz Rittner
Raz Dafny
Raz Dafny
Raz Dafny
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ISRAEL JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGY, Vol. 48 (1), pp. 79– 83 (9 August 2018)
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.1342522; ISSN (online) 2224-6304
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:DB09FE29-BBBB-4996-92F7-455FA9166DE1
SHORT COMMUNICATION
Metoecus paradoxus (Linnaeus, 1760) (Coleoptera:
Ripiphoridae), a new species for the fauna of Israel
Oz Ri t t n e R 1 & Ra z Da f n y 2
1The Steinhardt National History Museum and Research Center, Tel Aviv University,
Tel Aviv, 69978 Israel. E-mail: israelbutteries@gmail.com
2Shemurat HaAlonim 22, Kibbutz Merom Golan, 12436, Israel. E-mail: razda@walla.co.il
The Ripiphoridae (wedge-shaped beetles) contain approximately 450 species
worldwide. Like the Meloidae, many wedge-shaped beetles are hypermetamor-
phic parasitoids. The majority of them attack wasps and bees whilst others attack
cockroaches and beetles (Ptinidae and Cerambycidae) (Batelka et al. 2018).
The rst record of a ripiphorid species from Israel was published by Sahlberg
(1912), who reported that Ptilophorus dufourii (Latreille, 1817) was collected at
Dayr Aban (a village East of Bet Shemesh, Judean Hills) by Unio Saalas. Pic
(1927) mentioned Pterydrias debilis Reitter, 1895, and Bodenheimer (1937) re-
cords two species for Israel, Macrosiagon bimaculata (Fabricius, 1787) and Mac-
ro siagon ferruginea (Fabricius, 1781). Argaman and Mendel (1988) reported two
Ripiphoridae species as new for Israel, Ripidius vaulogeri Chobaut, 1893 and
Eva nio cera dufouri Latreille, 1817, but the latter had been already published by
Sahl berg (1912). Chikatunov et al. (2006) added Macrosiagon praeusta (Gebler,
1829) and Ripiphorus subdipterus Bosc, 1792 to the list of Israeli wedge-shaped
beetles.
Metoecus paradoxus (Linnaeus, 1760), commonly referred to as ‘the wasp nest
beetle’, is hereby recorded in Israel for the rst time. Metoecus paradoxus has a
wide distributional range, which includes Azerbaijan, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia
and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Great Britain, Ger-
many, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia,
Spain, Sweden, Switzerland (Batelka 2008) and Russia (Sáez Bolaño et al. 2008).
In the Eastern Mediterranean it is known so far from Turkey and Syria (Batelka
2008).
On the 23rd of June 2018 a large nest of Vespula germanica (Fabricius, 1793)
was removed by the second author from the vicinity of Merom Golan (a kibbutz
at the Golan Heights in the northern part of Israel; 33°08'N 35°46'E). The ruined
nest was then exposed to pesticides. Near the nest a female of M. paradoxus was
observed. Soon afterward a search inside the ruined nest yielded dead and still
alive adults and pupae of M. paradoxus.
80 ISRAEL JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGY, VOL. 48 (1), 2018
In total, 33 specimens of M. paradoxus were found: nine pupae and seven new-
ly hatched adults (ve females and two males) were found inside closed cells,
and 16 adults (14 females and three males) were found freely in the nest. A male
Figs 1, 2: Male (1) and female (2) of M. paradoxus.
RittneR & Dafny: METOECUS PARADOXUS IN ISRAEL 81
Figs 3, 4: M. paradoxus in Israel: (3) ovipositing female, (4) pupae.
82 ISRAEL JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGY, VOL. 48 (1), 2018
and three females were found alive. The living females were observed and photo-
graphed while laying eggs on different parts of the nest. A pair of adults is cur rent-
ly de po sited at the collection of the rst author, housed at the Steinhardt Museum
of Natural History, Tel Aviv University.
Metoecus paradoxus is a known pest inside of V. germanica nests (Van Oystae-
yen et al. 2015). The female beetle lays eggs in crevices of decaying wood, which
is collected by V. vulgaris workers to build their nest (Van Oystaeyen et al. 2015).
The newly hatched larvae cling to wondering wasps in order to get into their nest.
The beetle larva feeds on the wasp larva inside its cell and pupates there. The level
of parasitism is low (Van Oystaeyen et al. 2015). Metoecus paradoxus prefers
nests of Vespula vulgaris (Linnaeus, 1758), known as the ‘Common wasp’, when
those are available. This is due to the fact that the beetles appear to be chemically
adapted to V. vulgaris through sharing more hydrocarbon compounds than they do
with V. germanica (Van Oystaeyen et al. 2015). This results in a lesser aggression
level from V. vulgaris adults towards hatching adults of M. paradoxus compared
to V. germanica.
Vespula vulgaris is presently unknown in Israel, so it is reasonable to assume
that V. germanica acts as the main host for M. paradoxus in the country.
Thus far, there are eight species of the Ripiphoridae known to occur in Israel.
However this number is not denite since the country’s fauna of these beetles is
yet to be thoroughly studied. In addition to this, some of the old records need con-
rmation since specimens, which the records have been based upon, are un avai
lable for re-examination. The current list of the Ripiphoridae species oc cur ring in
Israel includes the following species:
Subfamily Ptilophorinae
Ptilophorus dufourii (Latreille, 1817)
Subfamily Ripidiinae
Pterydrias debilis Reitter, 1895
Ripidius vaulogeri Chobaut, 1893
Subfamily Ripiphorinae
Macrosiagon bimaculata (Fabricius, 1787)
Macrosiagon ferruginea (Fabricius, 1781)
Macrosiagon praeusta (Gebler, 1829)
Metoecus paradoxus (Linnaeus, 1760)
Ripiphorus subdipterus Bosc, 1792
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va n Oy S t a e y e n , a., zw e D e n , J.S. v a n , hu y g h e , h., DR i J f h O u t , f., BO n C k a e R t , w. & we n S e l e e R S , T.
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https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-015-0652-0
... Кроме того, в распоряжении авторов имеются фотографии экземпляра вида с территории Нижегородской области. В фауне Саратовской области до сих пор было известно 2 вида Ripiphoridae [Яблоков-Хнзорян, 1975 [Batelka, 2007b[Batelka, , 2008Rittner, Dafny, 2018]. Есть указания на находки вида в странах Средней Азии и Японии [Яблоков-Хнзорян, 1976]. ...
... Безусловно, распространение связано с ареалом хозяина этого паразитического вида жесткокрылых. Развитие личинок жука происходит в гнездах ос из родов Paravespula, Vespula, Dolichovespula и Vespa [Heitmans, Peeters, 1996;Егоров, Егорова, 2009;Rittner, Dafny, 2018]. Самка M. paradoxus откладывает яйца в гниющую древесину, которую собирают рабочие осы для постройки гнезд [Drees, 1994;Van Oystaeyen et al., 2015]. ...
... M. paradoxus предпочитает гнезда Vespula vulgaris (Linnaeus, 1758), к которой, по всей видимости, хорошо адаптирован на уровне феромонов или других химических соединений [Van Oystaeyen et al., 2015]. В Израиле хозяином является другой вид -Vespula germanica (Fabricius, 1793) [Rittner, Dafny, 2018]. В год бывает до двух генераций: первая появляется летом, вторая -в начале осени [Яблоков-Хнзорян, 1976;Drees, 1994]. ...
Metoecus paradoxus (Linnaeus, 1760) (Coleoptera, Ripiphoridae) – новый вид в фаунах Республики Мордовия, Нижегородской, Саратовской и Тамбовской областей [Metoecus paradoxus (Linnaeus, 1760) (Coleoptera: Ripiphoridae), a new species for the fauna of Republic of Mordovia, Nizhniy Novgorod, Saratov and Tambov Provinces]
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BOnCkaeRt, w. & wenSeleeRS, t. 2015. Chemical strategies of the beetle Metoecus paradoxus, social parasite of the wasp Vespula vulgaris
  • Jan 2008
  • 1137-1147
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Sáez BOlañO, J.a., BlanCO villeRO, J.m., BahillO De la PueBla, P. & lóPez-COlón, J.i. 2008. Primer registro de Metoecus paradoxus (linnaeus, 1761) (Coleoptera, rhipiphoridae) para extremadura (españa). Boletín Sociedad Entomológica Aragonesa 42: 457-458. http://sea-entomologia.org/Publicaciones/PDf/Boln42/457_458Bsea42nBmetoecus.pdf van OyStaeyen, a., zweDen, J.S. van, huyghe, h., DRiJfhOut, f., BOnCkaeRt, w. & wenSeleeRS, t. 2015. Chemical strategies of the beetle Metoecus paradoxus, social parasite of the wasp Vespula vulgaris. Journal of Chemical Ecology 41 (12): 1137-1147. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-015-0652-0
Prodromus faunae Palaestinae: essai sur les éléments zoogéographiques et historiques du sud-ouest du sous-régne paléarctique. Mémoires présentés à l'Institut d
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