Species diversity of Chalcidoidea and Ichneumonoidea (Hymenoptera) in some paddy fields and surrounding grasslands of Mazandaran and Guilan provinces, northern Iran

Subject Areas : Plant Pests

Hassan Ghahari ¹ (Dept. Plant Protection, Shahre Rey Branch Islamic Azad University)
hamid Sakenin ² (Department of Entomology, Qaemshahr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qaemshahr, Iran)

Received: 2020-06-18 Accepted : 2020-06-18 Published : 2018-08-23

Keywords: Rice stem borer, parasitoid, Chalcidoidea, Biological control, Ichneumonoidea,

Abstract :

In this faunistic research, species diversity of parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera) of two super families Chalcidoidea and Ichneumonoidea was studied in some paddy fields and surrounding grasslands of Mazandaran and Guilan provinces (northern Iran). In total, 39 species within seven families were collected and identified: Chalcididae (2 species, 2 genera), Encyrtidae (5 species, 5 genera), Eulophidae (4 species, 4 genera), Mymaridae (single species), Trichogrammatidae (2 species, 1 genus), Braconidae (15 species, 13 genera) and Ichneumonidae (10 species, 10 genera). Upon the results of this investigation and the other published works, a diverse and rich fauna of parasitoid wasps are active in paddy fields of northern Iran, which can be efficient biological control agents under impressive conservation. Additionally, introducing these beneficial insects to farmers and training them to support natural enemies in various aspects will result to safekeeping of agroecosystem and natural ecosystems, and also producing of safe and organic crops.