Omalus Biaccinctus
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''Omalus biaccinctus'' is a species of
cuckoo wasp Commonly known as cuckoo wasps or emerald wasps, the hymenopteran family Chrysididae is a very large cosmopolitan group (over 3000 described species) of parasitoid or kleptoparasitic wasps, often highly sculptured, with brilliant metallic colors ...
s belonging to the family
Chrysididae Commonly known as cuckoo wasps or emerald wasps, the hymenopteran family Chrysididae is a very large cosmopolitan group (over 3000 described species) of parasitoid or kleptoparasitic wasps, often highly sculptured, with brilliant metallic colors ...
.


Distribution and habitat

This species is present in most of Europe ( Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Spain,
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
and The Netherlands), in the eastern Palearctic realm, and in the
Near East The ''Near East''; he, המזרח הקרוב; arc, ܕܢܚܐ ܩܪܒ; fa, خاور نزدیک, Xāvar-e nazdik; tr, Yakın Doğu is a geographical term which roughly encompasses a transcontinental region in Western Asia, that was once the hist ...
. These wasps occur in musk forests.


Description

''Omalus biaccinctus'' can reach a body length of about . In these small wasps head, pronotum and mesonotum are unpunctuated but vaguely rough. The face is green-blue and antennae are brown, with the first two segments green. The thorax is blue-indigo and very convex. The abdomen is shiny golden-red, subglobular and wider than the fore-body. Wings are quite smoky in the rear half. Legs are blue-green and tarsi reddish-brown, but the first section is green.Paolo Rosa, Na-Sen Wei, Zai-Fu X
Contribution to the genus Omalus Panzer, 1801 of China, with descriptions of two new species (Hymenoptera, Chrysididae)
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Biology

These wasps are nesting parasites of solitary wasps '' Passaloecus'' species. This species has also been reported laying eggs inside living aphids, later preyed by aphid-hunting crabronids. In such a way ''O. biaccinctus'' through the aphids can enter in the nest of the crabronid in order to lay its eggs.P. Winterhage
Strategy for sneaking into a host’s home: The cukoo wasp Omalus biaccinctus (Hymenoptera: Chrysididae) insert its eggs into living aphids that are the prey of its host
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References

Chrysididae Hymenoptera of Europe Taxa named by Robert du Buysson Insects described in 1893 {{wasp-stub