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The digger wasps fauna (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) of Fars province in southern Iran was partly investigated. Members of three families: Pemphredonidae (5 species of 3 genera), Psenidae (3 species of 2 genera) and Philanthidae (2 species of 2 genera) were collected and documented. The following eight species: Diodontus brevilabris de Beaumont, 1967, D. crassicornis Gribodo, 1894, D. insidiosus Spooner, 1938, Passaloecus corniger Shuckard, 1837, Pemphredon inornata Say, 1824, Mimesa punctipleuris (Gussakovskij, 1937), Psenulus laevigatus (Schenck, 1857) and Cerceris spinifera haladai K. Schmidt, 2000, are new to the Iranian wasp fauna. In addition, two species: Psenulus schencki (Tournier, 1889) and Philanthus variegatus Spinola, 1839, are new records for Fars province. For each species, we include available distributional data as well as comments on its taxonomy and geographical distribution.

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One of the most important challenges in the process of translating the Quran into other languages is the observation of grammatical rules and conveying it into the aim language correctly. «Tazmin» is one of these rules. The application of this rule in the Qur’anic verses has always been controversial. This research, using a descriptive-analytical method, criticizes how the Hebrew translators encountered with the rule of «Tazmin» in Qur’an. The correct translation of «Tazmin» cases is of high importance because it sometimes affects our understanding of the juristic, theological and aesthetic dimensions of the Quranic verses. One of the results of the survey is that the Hebrew translators of the Quran have hardly been successful in grasping and conveying «Tazmin» in their translations. Although Muslim translators have been more successful in this field, they also have in many cases failed in true understanding and translating it, hence making impressions contrary to the principles of the Shariah. The errors of the Hebrew translators are mainly due to their ignorance of the people’s culture at the era of Quran’s revelation and their inability to properly transmit «Tazmin».

 

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Two cuckoo wasp species (Hymenoptera: Chrysididae), Trichrysis lacerta (Semenov, 1954) from the subfamily Chrysidinae, and Cleptes striatipleuris Rosa, Forshage, Paukkunen & Soon, 2015 from the subfamily Cleptinae, are newly documented for the Iranian fauna. The specimens were collected using Malaise traps in the Fars Province, south of Iran during 2015-2016. Notes about taxonomy, relevant references as well as geographical distribution of both species are given. The total number of Iranian Trichrysis and Cleptes currently increased to four and three species, respectively.

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This paper provides new information on the distribution of 32 species of Ichneumonidae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonoidea) in Iran. Two genera i.e. Isadelphus Forster, 1869 and Linycus Cameron, 1903 as well as 13 species i.e. Casinaria mesozosta (Gravenhorst, 1829), Cymodusa antennator Holmgren, 1860, Gambrus tricolor (Gravenhorst, 1829), Ichneumon inops Holmgren, 1880, Idiolispa grossa (Gravenhorst, 1829), Isadelphus gallicola (Bridgman, 1880), Linycus exhortator (Fabricius, 1787), Lissonota buccator (Thunberg, 1822), L. carbonaria Holmgren, 1860, L. coracina (Gmelin, 1790), L. folii Thomson, 1877, L. saturator (Thunberg, 1822), Theroscopus esenbackii (Gravenhorst, 1829) are newly added to the Iranian wasp fauna.

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An updated checklist of Iranian Syrphidae (Diptera: Syrphoidea) is presented based on literature records with the latest taxonomic and nomenclatural changes. A total of 269 valid species in 70 genera among four subfamilies have been known from Iran, which is approximately 4.27 percent of the world’s total known Syrphidae. Among these, 145 species and 31 genera were added to the previous list. Of the 70 genera Eumerus Meigen (35 species, 13.01%) and Merodon Meigen (26 species, 9.67%), are the most specious, whereas 30 genera are represented in Iran by only one recorded species. The majority of Iranian hoverfly species are exclusively distributed in the Palaearctic region, while 21 species are known only from Iran and possibly endemic to the country.

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Study of the relationship between two important variables, emotional intelligence and leadership style, has been the main purpose of this research. The population under study consists of 266 marketing and sales managers from Mashhad food and automobile industries from which a sample of 73 peaple was drawn. Data was collected by means of two questionnaires, including Weisinger’s emotional intelligence questionnair and Barak’s leadership style questionnair. Face validity and split half method were used to determine the questionnaires validity and reliability respectively. The result of split half reliability for emotional intelligence and leadership style questionnaires was known to be .083 and .079 respectively, which the results of the research revealed that there is a positive and meaningful relation between emotional intelligence and transformational leadership style, and a negative relation between emotional intelligence and transactional leadership style of the population under study.

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Habrobracon hebetor Say (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is an ectoparasitoid wasp in the family Braconidae and is widely used in biological pest control. Little information is available on the genetic diversity of geographically isolated populations of H. hebetor. In the present study, we assess the genetic structure and diversity of geographically distinct populations of H. hebetor collected from different regions of Iran. To this end, 19 populations of H. hebetor (Dehloran, Hamadan, Minab, Rudan, Ahvaz, Sari, Semnan, Bandar Lengeh, Haji Abbad, Jiroft, Shiraz, Sarpol-e Zahab, Gorgan, Isfahan, Urmia, Kahurestan, Taziyan, Isin, and Sarkhun) were collected from natural niches. For each population, we sequenced a ~660 base pair fragment of Cytochrome Oxidase subunit I (COI) successfully. Analysis of molecular variance revealed sharp differentiation among H. hebetor populations. Populations from Ahvaz, Dehloran, Jiroft and Minab were the most genetically diverged. A Mantel test showed significant positive correlation between genetic and geographic distances (r = 0.47, P < 0.001). The phylogenetic analysis clustered the populations into two major groups (A and B) (100); the major part was assigned to group A. Group B mainly included the populations from southern Iran. Based on these results, we conclude that H. hebetor in Iran is comprised of many diverse populations. These may be successfully applied in innundative release programs.
 

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Objective: Zoledronic acid as a main treatment for osteoporosis has an important role in differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells. However, mechanism of osteoblastic differentiation induction by zoledronic acid is not well understood until now. In this research we evaluate zoledronic acid effect on methylation status of RUNX2 and DLX5 promoters. Materials and Methods: After isolation and expansion of hMSCs from BM, they were pulse treated with 5μM ZA for 3h, and incubated in osteogenic differentiation medium for 3 weeks. DNA was extracted after first, second and third weeks of culture and also from undifferentiated MSCs. After SBS treatment, gene specific methylation analysis for RUNX2 and DLX5 were carried out by MSP using methylated and unmethylated primers. Results: In the genes RUNX2 and DLX5, M and U primers of MSP amplified promoter regions of undifferentiated and osteoblastic differentiated MSCs. Therefore, methylation status in RUNX2 and DLX5 promoters present incomplete methylation. Conclusion: Methyltion patterns of RUNX2 and DLX5 don’t change during zoledronic acid osteoblastic differentiation of MSCs. Our findings show that zoledronic acid does not induce osteoblastic differentiation via epigenetic mechanisms. Therefore, zoledronic acid can induce osteoblastic differentiation in a manner independent from DNA epigenetic changes.

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Augmentative release of native natural enemies is a prominent strategy for suppression of crop pests. Intrinsic differences among populations of natural enemies may affect their efficiency in pest management programs. We characterized life history traits of 13 climatically and geographically isolated populations of Habrobracon hebetor Say (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) from different regions of Iran to assess their suitability for biological control of noctuid moths. All experiments were performed at 25±1°C, 65±5 RH and 16:8 (L:D) hours photoperiod regime. Ephestia kuehniella (Zeller) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) was used as a laboratory host. Our results revealed significant variation in female longevity, paralysis and parasitism rate, sex ratio, reproductive rate and host allocation among different H. hebetor populations tested. The highest number of offspring (124.2) and parasitized larvae (160.1) were observed in Bandar Lengeh and the lowest ones was observed in Urmia and Jiroft, respectively (3.4 and 9.3 for Urmia and 3.1 and 10.1 for Jiroft). Also, the wasps of Bandar Lengeh paralyzed more than 95% of the introduced host larvae. The longest female longevity and male production (21.3 days and 80.1, respectively) were in Bandar Abbas and Bandar Lengeh (21.3 days and 80, respectively), while the lowest ones were in Dehloran (12.9 days and 40.2, respectively). Gorgan population deployed the highest number of Ephestia kuehniella larvae in foraging behavior test. These results show considerable variation in the life history traits of various populations of H. hebetor, which may affect performance of these populations under field condition.