Braconid and ichneumonid (Hymenoptera) parasitoid wasps of Lepidoptera from the Maltese Islands Author Mifsud, David Author Farrugia, Lucia Author Shaw, Mark R. text Zootaxa 2019 2019-03-14 4567 1 47 60 journal article 28366 10.11646/zootaxa.4567.1.3 08a63c3c-ef37-4a13-ad59-436532201c95 1175-5326 2593032 B1916909-5696-44EF-AC8F-E41CDF1E6DA8 Ophion obscuratus Fabricius, 1798 Material examined: MALTA , Buskett , 25. xii.2010, 1 ♂, emerged supposedly from a larva of Lasciocampa quercus (Linnaeus) ( Lepidoptera : Lasciocampidae ), MZ , NMS . Additional material: Buskett , Verdala Palace , 1.xii.2016 –30. i.2017, 1 ♂ & 3♀♀ , in Malaise trap , DM , NMS ; Gnejna , 25. xii.2015, 1 ♀, TC , TCC [parasitoids were determined by Mark Shaw ; host determined by Michael Zerafa ] . Notes: New record for the Maltese Islands. The specimen purportedly from L. quercus is of a comparable (relatively small) size to those seen from the usual noctuid hosts of this taxon in Britain, and Ophion species normally kill the host as a prepupa. Thus the record seems highly improbable, but the host remains are unavailable for re-examination. Ophion obscuratus is a nocturnal koinobiont endoparasitoid of several noctuid hosts that feed on exposed low vegetation.