Associated Bracon Fabricius (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) with flower-heads of Asteraceae in Iran

Abstract

View on Scopus A study was conducted to determine the braconinae (Hym., Braconidae) parasitoid wasps, associated with Asteraceae in the northwest of Iran during 2013-2015. Ten species were reared from flower-heads of Asteraceae: Bracon bipartitus Wesmael, 1838; B. leptus Marshall, 1897; B. luteator Spinola, 1808; B. mariae Dalla Torre, 1898; B. pectoralis Wesmael, 1838; B. subrugosus Szépligeti, 1901; B. talyshicus Tobias, 1976; B. trucidator Marshall, 1888; B. tschitscherini Kokujev, 1904 and B. urinator (Fabricius, 1798), of which one species (i.e., B. talyshicus) is recorded for the first time from Iran. We also reared some non-frugivorous Tephritidae feeding on the collected flower-heads that can be possible host of these braconids. General distribution and biological associations for all species that have been collected in this study are compiled.

Keywords

• host
• distribution
• parasitoid
• braconinae
• iran