Meteorus pendulus (Müller, 1776), Muller, 1776

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 : 12-13

Meteorus pendulus (Müller, 1776)

Distribution in Iran. Isfahan (Ghahari et al. 2011a as Meteorus gyrator ), Guilan, Mazandaran, Qazvin (Farahani and Talebi 2012; Sedighi and Madjdzadeh 2015), Iran (no specific locality) ( Abbasipour 2001; Abbasipour et al. 2004 as Meteorus gyrator ; Khanjani 2004; Fallahzadeh and Saghaei 2010; Abbasipour and Taghavi 2002, 2004 as Meteorus gyrator ).

Distribution outside Iran. Frequent to common in the Palaearctic and Oriental regions (Papp 2011–2012). Azerbaijan, Azores, Bulgaria, China, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Mongolia, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, USA, Ukraine, former Yugoslavia ( Yu et al. 2012), Austria, France, Spain ( Yu et al. 2012; Stigenberg 2013; Stigenberg and Shaw 2013), Belgium ( Wesmael 1835 as Perilitus scutellator ; Yu et al. 2012), Canada ( Yu et al. 2012; Sharanowski et al. 2014), Croatia ( Papp 2010 as Meteorus gyrator ; Yu et al. 2012), Greece ( Papp 2003b as Meteorus gyrator ; Yu et al. 2012), Israel ( Papp 1988 as Meteorus gyrator ; Papp 2011– 2012; Yu et al. 2012), Italy ( Cobelli 1905 as M. scutellaris ; Yu et al. 2012), Japan ( Watanabe 1937 as Meteorus scutellaris under the subfamily Helconini; Yu et al. 2012), Madeira (van Achterberg and Aguiar 2009; Yu et al. 2012), Norway ( Yu et al. 2012; Stigenberg and Hansen 2013), Turkey ( Yilmaz et al. 2010; Yu et al. 2012; Koldaş et al. 2013), UK ( Marshall 1887 as Meteorus scutellator ; Broad and Shaw 2009; Yu et al. 2012; Stigenberg 2013; Stigenberg and Shaw 2013), Uzbekistan ( Yilmaz et al. 2010).

Host records. It is a solitary endoparasitoid on lepidopteran families (including Geometridae , Lasiocampidae , Lycaenidae , Lymantridae , Noctuidae and Tortricidae ) and emerges from the larval stage ( Yu et al. 2012). Some specimens were collected from Ourmieh (West Azarbaijan province) as the solitary endoparasitoid of Spodoptera exigua (Hübner) ( Lepidoptera : Noctuidae ) (Farahani and Talebi 2012). Endoparasitoid of rice armyworm, Mythimna unipuncta (Haworth) ( Lepidoptera : Noctuidae ), from Mazandaran ( Abbasipour 2001, 2004). It is reared from Plusia sp. ( Lepidoptera : Noctuidae ) in Israel (Papp 2011–2012). It has been also reported as the parasitoid of Pseudaletia unipunctata (Haworth) ( Lepidoptera : Noctuidae ) ( Khanjani 2004). It is also bred from Orthosia stabilis View , Noctua triangulum Linnaeus ( Lepidoptera : Noctuidae ), Ocueria dispar Linnaeus ( Lepidoptera : Lymantriidae ) ( Marshall 1885). In Iran it is introduced to control the armyworm Mythimna unipuncta (Haworth) ( Lepidoptera : Noctuidae ) in the rice fields ( Abbasipour and Taghavi 2002, 2004). In Norway it is reared from larva/pupa of Eupsilia transversa Hufnagel ( Lepidoptera : Noctuidae ) on Malus domestica ( Stigenberg and Hansen 2013) . The main hosts of the overwintering generation, such as Mythimna , Noctua and Xestia species ( Stigenberg and Shaw 2013). It is also reared from? Apamea unaminis (Hübner) , Agrochola lota Clerck , Brachylomia viminalis (Fabricius) , Ceramica pisi (Linnaeus) , Cerapteryx graminis (Linnaeus) , Conistra vaccinii Linnaeus , Cosmia trapezina (Linnaeus) , Dryobotodes eremita (Fabricius) , Eremobia ochroleuca (Denis & Schiffermüller) , Euplexia lucipara (Linnaeus) , Eupsilia transversa Hufnagel , Lacanobia oleracea (Linnaeus) , Mythimna ferrago Fabricius , Mythimna impura Hübner , Noctua orbona (Hufnagel) , Noctua fimbriata (Schreber) , Orthosia gracilis (Denis & Schiffermüller) , Phlogophora meticulosa (Linnaeus) , Thalpophila matura (Hufnagel) , Xestia xanthographa (Denis & Schiffermüller) ( Lepidoptera : Noctuidae ) ( Stigenberg and Shaw 2013).