Additional data on Aphidiinae (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) fauna of Kyrgyzstan, with description of a new species

Here we present additional data on the Aphidiinae fauna of Kyrgyzstan. We identified 18 Aphidiinae species. One species new to science (Trioxys depressussp. nov.) is described, while 11 species are reported for the first time: Aphidius avenae Haliday, A. ervi Haliday, A. matricariae Haliday, A. salicis Haliday, A. urticae Haliday, Ephedrus cerasicola Starý, E. niger Gautier, Bonnamour & Gaumont, Lysiphlebus cardui (Marshall), L. confusus Tremblay & Eady, Monoctonus crepidis (Haliday), and Praon yomenae Takada. Current knowledge of Kyrgyz Aphidiinae is summarized and discussed.

Aphid parasitoids (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Aphidiinae) of the Forest Zones of Ukraine: species composition and habitat associations

The article presents data on species composition and habitat associations of the species of a practically important group of parasitic hymenopterous insects from the subfamily Aphidiinae (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) within the Forest zones of Ukraine. Species composition of aphidiines of the territory of research includes 45 species from 16 genera. Among them, 32 species were recorded only in the Zone of Mixed Forest: Adialytus salicaphis, Aphidius matricariae, A. megourae, A. rhopalosiphi, A. ribis, A. urticae, Areopraon silvestre, Binodoxys angelicae, Diaeretellus ephippium, Diaeretiella rapae, Diaeretus leucopterus, Ephedrus cerasicola, E. lacertosus, E. niger, E. plagiator, E. validus, Lysiphlebus cardui, L. dissolutus, L. hirticornis, Pauesia abietis, P. laricis, P. longicauda, P. pini, P. pinicollis, Praon bicolor, P. longicorne, P. megourae, P. pubescens, Protaphidius wissmannii, Trioxys cirsii, T. curvicaudus, T. pallidus; 3 species were recorded only in the Zone of Deciduous Forests: Lipolexis gracilis, Praon abjectum, Toxares deltiger; 10 species were registered in both zones: Adialytus ambiguus, Aphidius asteris, A. ervi, A. rosae, Binodoxys acalephae, Ephedrus persicae, Lysiphlebus confusus, L. fabarum, Paralipsis evervis, Praon volucre. Eight species are associated only with aphids on coniferous trees: Diaeretus leucopterus, Pauesia abietis, P. laricis, P. longicauda, P. pini, P. pinicollis, P. unilachni, Praon bicolor. Four species are euribiotic: Aphidius ervi, Ephedrus plagiator, Lysiphlebus fabarum, Praon volucre. At the same time, we consider ten species as rare on the time of research: Diaeretus leucopterus, Diaeretellus ephippium, Pauesia abietis, P. longicauda, Р. pini, P. pinicollis, Praon bicolor, P. megourae, P. pubescens, Protaphidius wissmannii. Factors that may affect the low abundance of some species in Forest zones in Ukraine: trophic specialization of species, features of biology, patterns of geographical and habitat associations of species in the area of research, patterns of material collection.

Host specialization of parasitoids and their hyperparasitoids on a pair of syntopic aphid species

Parasitoids of herbivorous insects have frequently evolved specialized lineages exploiting hosts occurring on different plants. This study investigated whether host specialization is also observed when closely related parasitoids exploit herbivorous hosts sharing the same host plant. The question was addressed in economically relevant aphid parasitoids of theLysiphlebus fabarumgroup. They exploit two aphid species (Aphis fabae cirsiiacanthoidesandBrachycaudus cardui), co-occurring in mixed colonies (syntopy) on the spear thistle (Cirsium vulgare). Two morphologically distinguishable parasitoid lineages of the genusLysiphlebuswere observed and each showed virtually perfect host specialization on one of the two aphid species in this system. FromA. f. cirsiiacanthoides, only females emerged that morphologically belonged toLysiphlebus cardui, while males and females belonging toL. fabarumhatched fromB. cardui. Microsatellite analyses indicated clear genetic differentiation ofL. fabarumandL. cardui. L. carduicomprised only two distinct asexual lineages, one of which predominated throughout the area investigated. Population genetic analysis of sexualL. fabarumshowed evidence for relatively strong spatial structuring and limited dispersal ability. Hyperparasitoids emerged from a large proportion of aphid mummies. One species,Pachyneuron aphidis, was significantly associated withB. cardui/L. fabarummummies, indicating that host specialization may even extend to the trophic level above parasitoids.

Aphid parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) in cultivated and non-cultivated areas of Markazi Province, Iran

The fauna of aphid parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae), as well as their diversity and tritrophic (parasitoid-host aphid-host plant) associations in cultivated and non-cultivated areas of Markazi province, was studied during 2004–2009. Thirty species of Aphidiinae belonging to 9 genera were identified. There are presented, in total, 73 associations with 32 host aphids occurring on 42 host plants. Five parasitoid-aphid associations are newly recorded from Iran. Lysiphlebus cardui (Marshall) is newly recorded for the fauna of Iran. Lysiphlebus fabarum (Marshall) and Diaeretiella rapae (M’Intosh) were the most abundant species in non-cultivated (72.96%) and cultivated (41.17%) areas, respectively. In the non-cultivated areas, L. fabarum was found on eight aphid species, while in cultivated areas it was only found on Aphis craccivora Koch. In cultivated areas, Sitobion avenae (F.) has the greatest diversity of parasitoids (Shanon-Weiner H = 0.875) whereas in non-cultivated areas the greatest diversity of parasitoids was recorded upon Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris) (Shanon-Weiner H = 1.149). Significant differences were found between diversity of two ecosystems based on the overall diversity indices. Both species diversity and evenness were greater in cultivated ecosystems. The results are discussed in relation to the over-all parasitoid-aphid-plant associations in the area.