Microctonus aethiops

Gadallah, Neveen S., Ghahari, Hassan & Achterberg, Kees Van, 2016, An annotated catalogue of the Iranian Euphorinae, Gnamptodontinae, Helconinae, Hormiinae and Rhysipolinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), Zootaxa 4072 (1), pp. 1-38 : 18

Microctonus aethiops (Nees von Esenbeck, 1834)

Distribution in Iran. Alborz, Guilan, Mazandaran ( Farahani et al. 2013b; Sedighi and Madjdzadeh 2015), Hamadan ( Arbab and McNiell 2001 as Microctonus aethiopoides ; Ghahari et al. 2010b; Sedighi and Madjdzadeh 2015 as Perilitus aethiopoides ), Kermanshah ( Ghahari et al. 2010b, Sedighi and Madjdzadeh 2015 as Perilitus aethiopoides ), Kordestan (Samin 2015), Lorestan ( Ghahari et al. 2012; Sedighi and Madjdzadeh 2015), Qazvin ( Arbab and McNiell 2001 as Microctonus aethiopoides ; Ghahari et al. 2010b; Farahani et al. 2013b; Sedighi and Madjdzadeh 2015), Iran (no specific locality) ( Fallahzadeh and Saghaei 2010 as Perilitus (Microctonus) aethiopoides).

Distribution outside Iran. One of the most common braconid species in the Holoarctic region (Papp 2011– 2012) and all Europe ( Szépligeti 1904). Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Canary Islands, Chile, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, USA, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, former Yugoslavia ( Yu et al. 2012 as Perilitus aethiops ), Belgium ( Wesmael 1835, 1838; Yu et al. 2012 as Perilitus aethiops ), China (Chen and van Achterberg 1997 as Microctonus aethiopoides ; Yu et al. 2012 as Perilitus aethiops ), Croatia ( Papp 2009b; Yu et al. 2012 as Perilitus aethiops ), Greece ( Papp 2003a; Yu et al. 2012 as Perilitus aethiops ), Israel (Papp 2011–2012), Hungary ( Papp 2008; Yu et al. 2012 as Perilitus aethiops ), Macedonia ( Papp 2010; Yu et al. 2012 as Perilitus aethiops ), Korea ( Papp 2003b as Microctonus aethiopoides ; Yu et al. 2012 as Perilitus aethiops ), Mongolia ( Papp 2005 as Perilitus aethiopoides, 2009b ; Yu et al. 2012 as Perilitus aethiops ), Russia ( Tobias 1971; Yu et al. 2012 as Perilitus aethiops ), Serbia ( Žikić et al. 2000; Yu et al. 2012 as Perilitus aethiops ), Turkey ( Koldaş et al. 2007, 2013; Yilmaz et al. 2010; Güçlü and Özbek 2011; Yu et al. 2012 as Perilitus aethiops ), UK ( Marshall 1887; Broad and Shaw 2009; Yu et al. 2012 as Perilitus aethiops ).

Host records. Phyllotreta nemorum (Linnaeus) , P. vittula Redtenbacher ( Coleoptera : Chrysomeloidea), Hypera brunneipennis (Boheman) , H. melas (Fabricius) , H. nigrirostris (Fabricius) , H. postica (Gyllenhal) , H. rumicis (Linnaeus) , H. variabilis Herbst ,, Irenimus aemulator Broun , I. aequalis Broun , I. duplex Broun , I. egens Broun , I. stolidus Broun , Listronotus bonariensis Kuschel , Nicaeana cervinus Boheman , Pantomorus cervinus Boheman , Prosayleus sp., Rhinocyllus conicus Frolich , Sitona bicolor Faehraeus , S. crinita (Herbst) , S. cylindricollis Fahraeus ( Coleoptera : Curculionidae ) ( Yu et al. 2012), Coniocleonus excoriatus (Gyllenhal) ( Coleoptera : Curculionidae ) (Papp 2011–2012). Tobias (1971) reported the following curculionid species ( Coleoptera : Curculionidae ) as hosts to this species: Sitona sp., Phytonomus meles Fabricius , Brachyderes incanus Linnaeus ( Coleoptera : Curculionidae ). Also, Arbab and McNiell (2001) reported it (as Microctonus aethiopoides ) as the adult parasitoid of H. postica (Gyllenhal) ( Coleoptera : Curculionidae ).