A common species in sandy areas. It can be found in large amounts where the host, Cerceris arenaria, having colonies. The species is frequently visiting flowers. C. nobile can be distinguished from the closely related H. niemelai by the larger size, and the unique sexual characters of sternites and middle tibiae.

Diagnosis

Figure 54

Left hindleg, ventral view: Hedychrum nobile ♂. Scale 0.5 mm.

Figure 55

Left hindleg, ventral view: H. nobile ♀. Scale 0.5 mm.

Figure 64

Genital capsule, ventral view: H. nobile ♂, d digitus, c cuspis. Scale 0.5 mm.

Length 6–10 mm.

The male and female are differently coloured. In the male, the head and mesosoma are completely green-blue and the metasoma is golden red (rarely greenish golden). In the female, the pronotum and mesoscutum are bright red (as in Fig. 53) or golden yellow, whereas the rest of the body has similar colouration as in the male. The pubescence is dark brown in both sexes. The species is easily confused with H. niemelai, but the mesotibial groove of the male is shallower and narrower, often indistinct (Fig. 57), and the female has a broader, apically undivided, tubercle on S3 (Fig. 59). Punctation of T3 is also sparser in both sexes, especially in the male (Fig. 62).

Distribution

Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden. Very common.

Trans-Palearctic: from Europe to Siberia (Linsenmaier 1959).

Be aware that the records present in the GBIF map may be misleading for some countries due to unrevised data sets or missing information.

GBIF Taxon: Hedychrum nobile (Scopoli, 1763)

Biology

Habitat: sparsely vegetated sandy areas, dunes. Adults are often found on flowers of Apiaceae, Asteraceae, Euphorbiaceae, Onagraceae and Rosaceae (Kusdas 1956, Brechtel 1985, Rosa 2004, our own obs.).

Flight period: June to August.

Host: Cerceris arenaria (Linnaeus) (Crabronidae) (Alfken 1915, Lomholdt 1975, Petit 1975, Schmid-Egger et al. 1995, Saure 1998, our own obs.), possibly also C. quadrifasciata (Panzer) and C. rybyensis (Linnaeus) (Alfken 1915, Lomholdt 1975).