Zur Arealerweiterung von Argiope bruennichi (Araneae: Araneidae) in Deutschland - wie genau sind unsere frühen Daten?

The areal expansion of Argiope bruennichi (Scopoli, 1772) in Germany has been pretty accurately documented in the last few decades. From the early expansion phase around 1900, however, there exist only few detailed facts. The research of the egg parasites has caused discussion to determine whether or not early finds of the ichneumonid species Tromatobia ornata (Gravenhorst, 1829) can be used as proof of the occurrence of Argiope bruennichi. The larvae of this parasitoid are monophag so the existence of Tromatobia ornata without the parallel existence of the hostspider does not appear to be possible.