JOURNAL OF INSECT BIODIVERSITY AND SYSTEMATICS
Year:2015 | Volume:1 | Issue:1 |Papers Count:9

A new species of oak gallwasp, Andricus synophri (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Cynipini) is described from Iran. This species is known only from asexual females and induces galls on the twigs ofQuercus brantiiand Q. libani. Galls are multilocular, develop on lateral buds of young branches. According to its morphology, Andricus synophri belongs to a large group of 12Andricus species, the “Adleria non- kollari” group. Data on the diagnosis, distribution and biology of the new species are given.

A seldom collected parasitoid of the pine aphids, Praon bicolor Mackauer, 1959, was captured in Malaise traps, mounted near the pine forests of Alborz Province (north central of Iran). It is the first record of this species from Iran and from the central Asian area. A brief diagnosis according to the morphological characters is presented and the host range within the conifers aphid parasitoids is also discussed.

The genus Ametastegia Costa 1882 (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae: Allantinae) was studied in northern Iran. The specimens were collected using sweeping net and Malaise traps during March to November 2010 and 2011. Four species were collected and identified of which Ametastegia persica Khayrandish, Talebi & Blank sp. n. is described as new to science. An illustrated key for identification of Ametastegia species in Iran is provided.

Within collection of the family Pteromalidae from Northwest of Iran, some female specimens of the genusHabritys Thomson were found. The specimens were collected by a Malaise trap and identifiedas Habritys brevicornis(Ratzeburg, 1844). This is first record of the genus Habritys and speciesH. brevicornis from Iran and Middle-East. Diagnostic morphological characters, host associations and geographical distribution of the newly recorded species are briefly discussed.

A total of 12 species of Coccomorpha from five scale insect families have been recorded on Artemisia spp. (Asteraceae) in Iran. They were belong to Acanthococcidae (1), Coccidae (3), Diaspididae (4), Ortheziidae (1) and Pseudococcidae (3). In this studyPeliococcus chersonensis (Kiritshenko), Pelionella grassiana(Goux) (Pseudococcidae) are redescribed and illustrated based on adult females to show their morphology in Iran.Rhizococcus borchsenii(Danzig) (Acanthococcidae) was also the third newly recorded species for the fauna of Iran. Species that have been previously collected or recorded on Artemisia in Iran are listed and information is given about host plants and global distribution for each species.

Six species of pteromalid wasps associated with plant galls, Rosa beggerianaSchrenk, Ephedra major Host and Salix pycnostachya Andersson were collected from Kerman province, during 2010-2011. The identified wasps belong to four genera: Caenacis Förster, 1856, Gastrancistrus Westwood, 1833, Mesopolobus Westwood, 1833, andPteromalus Swederus, 1795. Three species are newly recorded for the Iranian fauna: Gastrancistrus ephedrae Dzhanokmen, 1994 (Pireninae), Pteromalus cyniphidis(Linnaeus, 1758) and P. dolichurus (Thomson, 1878) (Pteromalinae).Gastrancistrus ephedrae is associated with an unknown species of insect onE. major, P. bedeguaris (Thomson, 1878) with Diplolepis fructuum (Rübsaamen, 1882) (Hym.: Cynipidae) onR. beggeriana, P. cyniphidis and P. dolichuruswith an unknown species of insect in leaf galls on S. pycnostachya, and Caenaciscf. inflexa and Mesopolobus sericeus with D. fructuum on R. beggeriana. Three new biological associations were found: M. sericeus with D. fructuum, and P. cyniphidisand P. dolichurus with S. pycnostachya. Short taxonomic comments, hosts and geographical distribution of the species are briefly mentioned.

Limothrips angulicornis Jablonowski, 1894 is newly recorded for the fauna of China. The genusLimothrips Haliday, 1836 (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) now includes three species in China. In addition, two previously recordedLimothrips species were also distributed in Palaearctic region of China, and there is no record in south and east of China, Oriental region. A key is provided to identifying of Chinese species of the genusLimothrips.

The list of 41 subgenera of the genus Andrena Fabricius, 1775 from Iran is given. The list provided here is based on a detailed study of all available published data and current study. Four subgenera and five species are recorded for the first time from Iran, including Andrena (Cnemidandrena) fuscipes(Kirby, 1802), Andrena (Lepidandrena) curvungula (Thomson, 1870), Andrena(Lepidandrena) pandellei (Pérez, 1895), Andrena (Parandrena) sericata (Imhoff, 1868) andAndrena (Platygalandrena) tecta (Radoszkowski, 1876). Ecological notes on the newly recorded species are briefly discussed.

The eucoiline genusHexacola Foerster, 1869 is present in the Afrotropical, Neotropical, Holarctic and Ethiopian regions, as well as Oceania. In this paper, three species are reported for the first time in Argentina: Hexacola hexatoma(Hartig 1841), Hexacola bifarium Quinlan, 1986 and Hexacola bonaerensisReche, nom. nov. proposed to replace Hexacola fuscipes (Kieffer 1908) by homonymy withHexacola fuscipes (Kieffer 1907). Their redescriptions are provided. Species from Argentina are parasitoids of Ephydridae and Chloropidae (Diptera). New distribution data, new host records and a key for Argentinian species are provided. Photographs of diagnostic characters and georeference of locality of collections are included. The material examined is deposited in the collection of the División Entomología, Museo de La Plata (Argentina).