Contribution to the genus Bruchophagus Ashmead species (Hymenoptera, Eurytomidae) associated with Astragalus brachydontus (Fabaceae) in Iran

Abstract

View on Scopus Seed-eater eurytomids of the genus Bruchophagus Ashmead, 1988 were collected from Ardabil and Qazvin provinces in northwest Iran. Various host plants were collected and their seeds were kept in laboratory conditions from 2007 to 2012. Scope of this paper focused on the Bruchophagus species reared from seeds of Astragalus brachydontus Boiss (Fabaceae). We obtained six species of Bruchophagus including B. astragali Fedoseeva. They were B. saxatilis Zerova; B. mutabilis Nikolaskaya; B. nikolskayae (Zerova); B. turkestanicus Zerova, and B. robiniae Zerova. Of which, Bruchophagus saxatilis Zerova, is a new record for the Iranian fauna. New host associations were found for all collected species and it seems a complex biological association that was recorded for the first time. Currently, 11 species of Bruchophagus are occurred inassociated with seeds of A. brachydontus. All previously known species of the genus Bruchophagus in Iran are also tabulated.

Keywords

• seed-eater
• eurytomidae
• phytophagous
• host plants
• iran
• checklist