First report of two species of the genus Temelucha (Hym.: Ichneumonidae, Cremastinae) from Iran

The subfamily Cremastinae (Hym.: Ichneumonidae) consists of more than 756 species classified into 35 genera. The wasps of the subfamily are mainly parasitoids of Lepidoptera and has a worldwide distribution (9). The genus Temelucha Forster, 1869 with 236 described species is the largest genus of the subfamily, 47 of which distributed in the west Palaearctic (8; 9). A revised and updated dichotomous Key for identification of the species of the genus in the west Palaearctic was provided by Vas (2016) (8). Until now, 24 species of the subfamily have been reported from Iran, 15 of which belong to the genus Temelucha (1). In this study two species of the genus, T. minuta (Morely, 1912) and T. notata Kolarov, 1989 were introduced which are new records to the insects fauna of Iran (1; 9). The first one has been reared from the larvae of the second seed feeder moth of saxaul, Prorophora albidogilvella Roesler, 1970 (Lep.: Pyralidae) during 1997 in Yazd province and the second one has been collected during 2014 from the west Azarbaijan province using Malaise traps. Identifications were done by the first author using keys and descriptions available in the literature (1; 8). In addition, T. decorata was also collected and identified from the west Azarbaijan province which is newly reported from this province (1; 3; 2). Specimens of these species were deposited in the insects collection of College of Agriculture and Natural Resources of Darab, Shiraz University.
Temelucha minuta (Morely, 1912):
Material examined: Iran, Yazd province, Yazd (31° 89´ N, 54° 36´ E, 1230 m a.s.l.), 1♀, 9.09.1997, Reared from P. albidogilvella, Leg. M. Shamszadeh; the west Azarbaijan province, Urmieh, Kahriz (N= 37° 53´, E= 45° 02´, 1321 m a.s.l), 1♀, 22.06.2014, Malaise trap, Leg. H. Lotfalizadeh
Diagnostic morphological character: The parasitoid wasp T. minuta can be identified from other species of the genus by the combination of the following characters: adult small, body length 2.5 mm; fore wing with apical part of veins unpigmented, only basal part of the veins pigmented; mesosoma predominantly black (8).
General distribution: Austalia, Cyprus, India, Madagascar, Reunion, Thailand (9) and Iran (new record).
Temelucha notata Kolarov, 1989 :Material examined: Iran, the west Azarbaijan province, Urmia, Kahriz (N= 37° 53´, E= 45° 02´, 1321 m a.s.l), 1♀, 22.06.2014, Malaise trap, Leg. H. Lotfalizadeh.
Diagnostic morphological characters: Black species, body length 5 mm; head constricted behind the eyes; clypeus weakly separated from the face, with front and lateral edges convex; mesothorax black; scutellum entirely yellow; propodeum long and not curved in lateral view; hind femur apically yellow; ovipositor apex down-curved (8).
General distribution: Bulgaria, Italy (9) and Iran (new record).
With the introduction of these two species, the number of reported species of the genus Temelucha from Iran, the west Azarbaijan and Yazd provinces increased to 17, 4 and 1 species, respectively (1; 3; 2; 9). There have been yet reported five species of microlepidoptera as hosts of T. minuta: Bilobata subsecivella (Zeller, 1852) (Lep.: Gelechiidae), Epiphyas postvittana (Walker, 1863) (Lep.: Tortricidae), Etiella behrii (Zeller, 1848) (Lep.: Pyralidae) and Phthorimaea operculella (Zeller, 1873) (Lep.: Gelechiidae) (9). The host-parasitoid association of the second seed feeder moth of saxaul, P. albidogilvella and T. minuta is newly established. Another parasitoid wasp from the subfamily was also reared on the second seed feeder moth of saxaul as Pharetrophora iranica Narolsky & Schonitzer, 2003 which has been only yet reported from Iran (5; 7). There has not been reported any host for T. notata, but T. decorata has been known as parasitoid of 21 species of Lepidoptera which many of them are among the most important and key pests of agricultural crops and fruits such as Homoeosoma nebulella (Denis & Schiffermuller, 1775) (Lep.: Pyralidae), Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders, 1844) (Lep.: Gelechiidae), Plutella xylostella (Linnaeus, 1758) (Lep.: Plutellidae), Choristoneura murinana Hubner, 1799 (Lep.: Tortricidae), Lobesia (Polychrosis) botrana (Denis & Schiffermuller, 1775) (Lep.: Tortricidae) and Cydia pomonella (L., 1758) (Lep.: Tortricidae). In the west of Iran, another species of the genus, T. lucida, has been recently collected and identified from the oak leaf roller moth, Tortrix viridana (L., 1758) (4). Also, Cremastus lineatus Gravenhorst, 1829 has been reared from Urophora terebrans (Loew) (Dip.: Tephritidae) (6). Future studies on the bioecology of insects and pests in different regions of Iran will get a more complete picture from these parasitoid wasps and their role in natural biological control of their hosts.