Additions to the chalcidoid fauna (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) of Iraq: New records of the genera Chalcis Fabricius, and Iridophaga Picard

Karimpour, Younes; Alag, Faraj; Shabaan, Ali D.

doi:10.48311/jibs.12.01.13

Additions to the chalcidoid fauna (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) of Iraq: New records of the genera Chalcis Fabricius, and Iridophaga Picard

Document Type : Short Paper

Authors

Younes Karimpour ¹

Faraj Alag ¹

Ali D. Shabaan ²

¹ Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Urmia University, Iran

² Department of Biology College of Education Qurna University of Basrah, Iraq

10.48311/jibs.12.01.13

Abstract

Chalcidoid wasps (Chalcidoidea) are the most diverse and biologically significant superfamily of Hymenoptera in terms of richness and ecological variation. Specimens of the Chalcis sispes (Linnaeus, 1760) (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae) and Iridophaga lichtensteini Picard, 1933 Hymenoptera: Torymidae) were collected using sweep nets and identified for the first record from Iraq (Basrah environs). The study includes biological notes, key morphological characters, and supporting photographs of the species.

Graphical Abstract

Additions to the chalcidoid fauna (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) of Iraq: New records of the genera Chalcis Fabricius, and Iridophaga Picard

Keywords

Diagnosis

Fauna

Parasitoid

Soldier flies

Western Asia

Abdul-Rassoul, M.S. (2000) A new species of Liodontomerus Gah. from Iraq (Hymenoptera, Torymidae). Bulletin of Iraq Natural History Museum, 9, 1‒4.

Abdul-Rassoul, M.S. & Mahmoud, T.T. (2017) New record of the parasitoid wasp Monodontomerus obscurus Westwood 1833 (Hymenoptera, Torymidae) in Iraq. Bulletin of Iraq Natural History Museum, 14, 329‒334. https://doi.org/10.26842/binhm.7.2017.14.4.0329

Abdul-Rassoul, M.S. & Mohammed, S. (2017) First record of Adontomerus amygdali (Bouček 1958) (Hymenoptera, Torymidae): A parasitoid of the almond fruit wasp, Eurytoma amygdali Enderlein 1907 (Hymenoptera, Eurytomidae) in Erbil Province, Iraq. Bulletin of Iraq Natural History Museum, 14, 301‒306. https://doi.org/10.26842/binhm.7.2017.14.4.0301

Abul-Sood, M.I., Gadallah, N.S., Hossni, M.T. & Delvare, G. (2018) The subfamily Cratocentrinae (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae): reappraisal of their morphological characters and review of the West Palaearctic species, with the description of two new species. Zootaxa, 4377 (4), 490–516. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4377.4.2

Al-Maliky, S.K. & Al-Izzi, M.A.J. (1986) Parasites of Ectomyelois ceratoniae with biological studies on Apanteles sp. group Ultor in Iraq. Entomophaga, 31 (3), 313–319. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02373341

Askew, R.R. & Shaw, M.R. (2001) Brachymeria tibialis (Walker, 1834) (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae), a parasitoid of Zygaena Fabricius, 1777, and other Lepidoptera. Entomologist's Gazette, 52 (4), 263–268.

Bouček, Z. (1951) The first revision of the European species of the family Chalcididae. Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 27 (Suppl.) 1, 1–108.

Bouček, Z. & Sedivy, J. (1954) Die Hymenopteren-Parasiten von Hyphantria cunea Drury in der Tschechoslowakei. Folia Zoologica Entomologica, 3, 169–189.

Bouček, Z. (1956) A contribution to the knowledge of the Chalcididae, Leucospidae and Eucharitidae (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea) of the Near East. Bulletin of the Research Council of Israel, 5B, 227–259.

Bouček, Z. (1988) Australasian Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera): A Biosystematic Revision of Genera of Fourteen Families, with a Reclassification of Species. CAB International, Wallingford, Oxon, UK. 832 pp.

Fry, J.M. (1989) Natural enemy databank, 1987. A Catalogue of Natural Enemies of Arthropods Derived from Records in the CIBC Natural Enemy Databank. CAB International, Wallingford, Oxford, UK. 185 pp.

Gibson, G.A.P., Huber, J.T. & Woolley, J.B. (1997) Annotated Keys to the Genera of Nearctic Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera). National Research Council of Canada Research Press, Ottawa, Canada. 794 pp.

Grissell, E.E. (1995) Toryminae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Torymidae): A redefinition, generic classification, and annotated world catalog of species. Memoirs on Entomology International, 2, 1‒470.

Heraty, J. & Woolley, J. (2025) Chalcidoidea of the world. CABI, Wallingford. 872 pp. https://doi.org/10.1079/9781800623545.0000

Kareem, A.A., Lotfalizadeh, H., Alsendi, A., Aljaafari, R.K. & Al-Zurfi, S. (2022) First record of two parasitoid wasps of the family Chalcididae (Hymenoptera) in Iraq. Bulletin of Iraq Natural History Museum, 17 (2), 187–195. https://doi.org/10.26842/binhm.7.2022.17.2.0187

Kareem, A.A., Lotfalizadeh, H., Alsendi, A., Al-Zurfi, S. & Aljaafari, R.K. (2023) First finding of Psilochalcis elegantula (Masi, 1929) (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae) in Iraq. Journal of Crop Protection, 12 (4), 415–422.

Kissayi, K., Benhalima, S., Bentata, F., Bhilili, M. & Benhoussa, A. (2019) New records for a catalogue of Chalcididae (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea) from Morocco. Arxius de Miscellania Zoologica, 17, 145–159. https://doi.org/10.32800/amz.2019.17.0145

Lotfalizadeh, H. & Gharali, B. (2005) Introduction to the Torymidae fauna (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) of Iran. Zoology in the Middle East, 36, 67–72. https://doi.org/10.1080/09397140.2005.10638129

Lotfalizadeh, H., Ebrahimi, E. & Delvare, G. (2012) A contribution to the knowledge of family Chalcididae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) in Iran. Journal of Entomological Society of Iran, 31, 67–100.

Mansowr, Z.F., Kareem, D.K., Al-Mansour, N.A. & Moravvej, S.A. (2023) Podagrion pachymerum (Walker 1833) (Hymenoptera: Torymidae) – a new record for Iraqi wasps from Basrah province. International Journal of Agriculture and Biology, 29, 381‒386.

Mansowr, Z.F., Kareem, D., Al-Mansour, N.A. & Moravvej, S.A. (2024) Diversity of wasps (Hymenoptera) in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) farms in Basrah Governorate, Southern Iraq. Zootaxa, 5448 (1), 049–066. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5448.1.3

Mansowr, Z.F., Jafarlu, M. & Lotfalizadeh, H. (2025a) Discovery of the genus Neotrichoporoides Girault, 1913 (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) in Iraq, with three new records. Journal of Insect Biodiversity and Systematics, 11 (1), 183–193. https://doi.org/10.61186/jibs.11.1.183

Mansowr, Z., Jafarlu, M. & Lotfalizadeh, H. (2025b) Review of the genus Diglyphus Walker, 1844 (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) in Iraq. Journal of Entomological Society of Iran, 45 (1), 51–61. https://doi.org/10.61186/jesi.45.1.4

Michael, M. (2008) Zur Kenntnis der Familie Chalcididae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) in Österreich. Entomofauna, 29 (4), 69–80.

Mirzaee, Z., Lotfalizadeh, H. & Sadeghi, S. (2022) Chalcidoid parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Torymidae and Eupelmidae) of mantids (Mantodea) oothecae in Iran. Phytoparasitica, 50, 487–499. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12600-021-00965-1

Narendran, T.C., Ignatius, M. & Menon, P.L.D. (2012) A review of Pseuderimerus Gahan (Hymenoptera: Torymidae) with description of a new species and key to species. Journal of Experimental Zoology India, 15, 49‒56

Noyes, J.S. (1982) Collecting and preserving chalcid wasps (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea). Journal of Natural History, 16, 315–334. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222938200770261

Peck, O. (1963) A catalogue of the Nearctic Chalcidoidea (Insecta: Hymenoptera). The Canadian Entomologist, 30 (Suppl.), 1–1092. https://doi.org/10.4039/entm9530fv

Swailem, S.M., Selim, A.A. & Amin, A.H. (1975) A contribution to the study of the insect fauna of Hammam Al-Alil. Mesopotamia Journal of Agriculture, 9, 119–141.

Tarla, S. Doğanlar, M. & Gözüaçık, C. (2010) The species of Oopristus Steffan, 1968 (Hymenoptera: Torymidae: Toryminae: Monodontomerini) of Turkey, with descriptions of two new species. Turkish Journal of Zoology, 34 (4), 487–495. https://doi.org/10.3906/zoo-0902-19

UCD Community (2023) Universal Chalcidoidea Database Website. Available from: https://ucd.chalcid.org/ [Accessed August 04, 2025]