Review of Aphidiinae parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) of the Middle East and North Africa: key to species and host associations

Abstract

In this study, a total of 108 Aphidiinae species, belonging to 18 genera, associated with 240 aphid species in 16 countries of the Middle East and North Africa are reviewed. 743 host aphid-parasitoid associations are listed. New material was collected from various regions of Saudi Arabia during 2011–2013. Three species including Aphidius avenae Haliday, 1834, Aphidius platensis Brèthes, 1913 and Praon barbatum Mackauer, 1967 are first recorded for the fauna of this country. Lysiphlebus marismortui Mescheloff & Rosen, 1990 syn. nov. is classified as the junior synonym of Lysiphlebus confusus Tremblay & Eady, 1978. An illustrated up-to-date key to all known species of Aphidiinae that occur in the Middle East and North Africa is provided. The findings are discussed in relation to the overall parasitoid-aphid associations in the target investigated region.

Suitability and Profitability of a Cereal Aphid for the Parasitoid Aphidius platensis in the Context of Conservation Biological Control of Myzus persicae in Orchards

“…In this sense, M. persicae exhibited more defensive behaviours than R. padi (two of the three evaluated). Indeed M. persicae is well known for jerking with its abdomen, as well as walking away (escaping) and kicking [ 54 ]. Interestingly, female parasitoids originated from M. persicae elicit a lower response to R. padi, which kicked less, when compared to female parasitoids originated from R. padi which elicit a greater defensive response in R. padi.…”

“…Aphidius platensis is a species belonging to the Aphidius colemani group [ 52 ]. It was initially believed to originate from South America (classified as a member of the Neotropical Faunistic Complex) [ 53 ], however, a few years later, it was documented as being of Indian origin [ 50 ], with a consequent expansion to other continents, currently being present in North Africa, Australia, Middle East and South America [ 54 ]. In this present study, two A. platensis populations were established for laboratory rearing.…”

A survey of aphid parasitoids and hyperparasitoids (Hymenoptera) on six crops in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

“…These parasitoids mainly belong to two taxa: Braconidae: Aphidiinae (Ichneumonoidea) and Aphelinidae (Chalcidoidea). Aphidiinae are solitary endoparasitoid wasps of aphids and play a significant role in reducing aphid populations (Starý 1970(Starý , 1988(Starý , 2006Vorley and Wratten 1985;Hagvar and Hofsvang 1991) with more than 505 described species belonging to 38 genera (Žikić et al 2017), among them only 28 species have been recorded in Iraq (Farahani 2016;Rakhshani et al 2019). Aphelinidae are a species-rich Hymenoptera family with more than 1000 described species in 43 genera, only seven species belonging to two genera have been recorded in Iraq (Noyes 2020).…”

Estimation of the competitiveness of Ephedrus plagiator in relation to other parasitoids from the subfamily Aphidiinae

“…It has been well studied in many aspects of its morphology [5], as well as its biology and ecology [6,7] and phylogeny [8,9]. E. plagator is involved in tritrophic associations with various aphid species and numerous host plants [10,11]. This parasitoid attacks more than 120 aphid species, predominantly from the genera Aphis Linnaeus, 1758, Macrosiphum Passerini, 1860 and Myzus Passerini, 1860 [11][12][13].…”

“…E. plagator is involved in tritrophic associations with various aphid species and numerous host plants [10,11]. This parasitoid attacks more than 120 aphid species, predominantly from the genera Aphis Linnaeus, 1758, Macrosiphum Passerini, 1860 and Myzus Passerini, 1860 [11][12][13]. In addition, Žikić et al (14) presented even wider host range of E plagiator, which attacks 167 species from 51 genera belonging to seven aphid subfamilies.…”