During a National Museums Liverpool survey of parasitic wasps at Formby National Trust (VC59) on 29th September 2020, a female ichneumon resembling Ctenochira haemosterna was swept from the edge of a small mixed woodland with oak (Quercus sp.) and poplar (Populus sp.), around 300 metres inland of the frontal dunes.
Female Ctenochira bisinuata from Formby 29.09.2020 (National Museums Liverpool)
This is one of many invertebrate groups which require examination of stationary specimens in order to determine the species, and on microscopical examination the voucher specimen revealed differences in both overall colouration and the structure of the hind tarsal claws. Following consultation of European literature the specimen was identified as Ctenochira bisinuata, a species not previously recorded in Britain. The identification was later confirmed by Dr Gavin Broad from the Natural History Museum, London. There is no published report of species having been reared so the host is unknown, but the closely related C. haemosterna has been reared from sawfly larvae on Betula, and the larvae of Euura bergmanni feeding on Salix. The voucher specimen will be stored in perpetuity at World Museum, Liverpool, where it will be used for education and scientific study, and the record will be published in a relevant journal in due course.
References
Horstmann K (2002) Revisionen von Schlupfwespen-Arten VI. Mitteilungen der Münchner Entomologischen Gesellschaft 92: 79‑91.
Kasparyan, D R (1973) Fauna of the USSR, Hymenoptera. Volume III, Number 1. Ichneumonidae (Subfamily Tryphoninae) Tribe Tryphonini. Leningrad: Nauka Publishers [Translated from Russian Amerind Publishing Co. Ltd., New Delhi, 1981. 414pp.]’
