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Issue: Vol. 5793 No. 1: 15 Apr. 2026
Type: Article
Published: 2026-04-15
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5793.1.7
Page range: 171-183
Abstract views: 72
PDF downloaded: 2

New wasps keep coming: two parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) associated with Haloxylon in Iran

Insect Taxonomy Research Department; Iranian Research Institute of Plant Protection (IRIPP); Agricultural Research; Education and Extension Organization (AREEO); Tehran; Iran
Department of Plant Protection; South-Khorasan; Agricultural and Natural Resources Research & Education Center; Birjand; Iran
Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands; Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization (AREEO); Tehran; Iran
Institute of Entomology; Agricultural University of Georgia; Digomi David Aghmashenebeli Alley; #240; Tbilisi – 0119; Georgia
Department of Plant Protection Faculty of Agriculture Ege University 35100; Izmir; Turkiye
Department of Entomology; Natural History Museum; Cirkusová 1740; CZ-193 00 Praha 9 - Horní Počernice; Czech Republic
INRA; UMR 1062 CBGP; Centre de Biologie pour la Gestion des Populations; Montferrier-sur-Lez; France
Hymenoptera new species taxonomy Chalcidoidea parasitoid saxaul

Abstract

The first Iranian species of Copidosoma Ratzeburg, was described in 1970, followed by a second species in 2016. Both species are parasitoids of lepidopterous pests on Pistacia. This study expands the Iranian fauna of this genus through the discovery of a new species, Copidosoma haloxylonae Lotfalizadeh sp. nov., associated with the saxaul tree, Haloxylon ammodendron (C.A. Meyer). Additionally, we report the first record of Psyllaephagus ogazae Sugonjaev for Iran, reared from the same host plant. To contextualize these findings, we provide a comprehensive checklist of all six Iranian Copidosoma species with distribution and biological data, a dichotomous key for their identification, and a redescription of P. ogazae based on Iranian specimens. These results significantly contribute to the understanding of chalcidoid wasp diversity and host associations in arid ecosystems of Iran.

 

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How to Cite

Lotfalizadeh, H., Tavakoli-Korghond, G., Farahani, S., Japoshvilli, G., Farshbaf-Pourabad, R., Hovorka, T. & Rasplus, J.-Y. (2026) New wasps keep coming: two parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) associated with Haloxylon in Iran. Zootaxa, 5793 (1), 171–183. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5793.1.7