Meteorus pulchricornis ( Wesmael, 1835 )

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 : 13

Meteorus pulchricornis ( Wesmael, 1835)

Distribution in Iran. East Azarbaijan, Northern Khorasan ( Herard et al. 1979; Sedighi and Madjdzadeh 2015), Mazandaran ( Herard et al. 1979; Farahani and Talebi 2012; Sedighi and Madjdzadeh 2015), Iran (no specific locality) ( Modarres Awal 1997; Alizadeh and Moghaddam 2004; Fallahzadeh and Saghaei 2010), Mazandaran ( Ghahari et al. 2009a).

Distribution outside Iran. All Europe ( Szépligeti 1904); frequent in the Palaearctic ( Papp 2003b; Rousse and Braet 2012) and Oriental regions ( Rousse and Braet 2012); frequent in western Palaearctic region ( Huddleston 1980). Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Finland, Georgia, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Morocco, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, former Yugoslavia ( Yu et al. 2012), Belgium ( Wesmael 1835, 1838 as Perilitus pulchricornis ; Yu et al. 2012), Czech Republic ((Lozan et al. 2012; Yu et al. 2012)), France, Hungary, Portugal, Spain ( Yu et al. 2012; Stigenberg 2013; Stigenberg and Shaw 2013), Greece ( Papp 2003b; Yu et al. 2012), Korea ( Papp 2003b; Yu et al. 2012), New Zealand ( Berry 1997; Rousse and Braet 2012; Yu et al. 2012), Norway ( Yu et al. 2012; Stigenberg and Hansen 2013), Russia ( Tobias 1971; Yu et al. 2012), Turkey ( Beyarslan et al. 2004, 2013; Yilmaz et al. 2010; Yu et al. 2012), UK ( Marshall 1887; Broad and Shaw 2009; Yu et al. 2012; Stigenberg 2013; Stigenberg and Shaw 2013), USA (introduced) ( Rousse and Braet 2012; Yu et al. 2012).

Host records. Meteorus pulchricornis is primarily a parasitoid of Noctuidae , although there are records of 67 lepidopteran species from 17 other lepidopteran families ( Arctiidae , Geometridae , Hermeniidae, Hesperiidae , Lasiocampidae , Lycaenidae , Lymantriidae , Lyonetiidae , Noctuidae , Nolidae , Nymphalidae , Papilionidae , Plutllidae, Psychidae , Pyralidae , Tineidae and Tortricidae ) ( Rousse and Braet 2012; Yu et al. 2012). Amongst the Meteorus material at Hokkaido University in Japan, some specimens are reared from Evergestis forficalis (Linnaeus) , Leucania separata (Walker) , Hipoepa fractalis (Guenée) , and Wittia sorocula (Hufnagel) . The biology and ecology of this species have been studied extensively ((Askary et al. 1977; Askary and Coppel 1978; Fuester et al. 1993; Berry and Walker 2004; Chau and Maeto 2009). It is also reported a parasitoid of Anomius flava (Fabricius) ( Lepidoptera : Noctuidae ) ( Waterhouse 1998). It has been also reported on Lymantria dispar Linnaeus and L. monacha Linnaeus ( Lepidoptera : Erebidae ) ( Tobias 1971). It is reported as parasitoid of a number of lepidopterous hosts: Agrotis agathina Thunberg , A. strigula Thunberg , Orthosia stabilis View (Noctuidae) , Anisopteryx aescularia Denis & Schiffermüler, Epirrita dilutata Deni & Schiffermüler (Geometridae) , Eudonia truncicolella Stainton (Crambidae) and as a hyperparasite of Mesochorus cimbicis Ratzeburg ( Hymenoptera : Ichneumonidae ) ( Marshall 1885). Schnitzler et al. (2004) has reported this species as a larval parasitoid of Cleora scriptaria ( Lepidoptera : Geometridae ). Stigenberg (2013) and Stigenberg and Shaw (2013) have also reported it from Anthophila fabriciana (Linnaeus) ( Lepidoptera : Choreutidae ), Hypatima rhomboidella (Linnaeus) ( Lepidoptera : Gelechiidae ), Uresiphita gilvata (Fabricius) ( Lepidoptera : Pyralidae ), Amblyptilia acanthadactyla (Hübner) ( Lepidoptera : Pterophoridae ), Charaxes jasius (Linnaeus) ( Lepidoptera : Nymphalidae ), Lasiocampa trifolii (Denis & Schiffermüller) ( Lepidoptera ; lasiocampidae ); Geometridae : Agriopis aurantiaria (Hübner) , Cyclophora sp. on Quercus , Eupithecia sp. on Juniperus , Operophtera brumata (Linnaeus) , O. fagata (Scharfenberg) ( Lepidoptera : Geometridae ), Anata myrtilli (Linnaeus) , Eupsilia transversa (Hufnagel) , Lycophotia porphyrea (Denis & Schiffermüller) , Orthosia cruda (Denis & Schiffermüller) ( Lepidoptera : Noctuidae ).