The Chalcidoid wasp assemblage (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) associated with the common reed, Phragmites australis in Iran

Abstract

Samples of the common reed, Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud. (Poaceae), were collected in a survey conducted in the south of West Azarbaijan province, Iran, from 2021 to 2023. The plant tissues were transported to the Entomology Laboratory of Urmia University, where chalcidoid wasps were obtained through laboratory rearing. The chalcidoid wasps obtained from the laboratory rearing included 11 species in 10 genera belonging to six families: Eurytoma crassinervis Thomson, 1876; E. ochraceipes Kalina, 1970; Sycophila mellea Curtis, 1831; Tetramesa albomaculatum Ashmead, 1894 (Eurytomidae), Cerchysius subplanus Dalman, 1820; Mayridia formosula Mercet, 1921 (Encyrtidae), Asaphes suspensus Nees, 1834; Halticoptera patellana Dalman, 1818; Homoporus arestor Walker, 1848, Sphegigaster nigricornis Nees, 1834 (Pteromalidae) and Oodera formosa Giraud, 1863 (Ooderidae). Among the identified species, two are new records for the Iranian fauna: Eurytoma crassinervis and Tetramesa albomaculatum.

Keywords

• common reed
• checklist
• biological control
• new record
• parasitoid
• west azarbaijan