Parasitoid wasps of the genus Encarsia Förster (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) in the Southern part of the Caspian Sea

A faunistic survey was carried out to study on parasitoid wasps of the genus Encarsia Förster in the southern part of the Caspian Sea during 2013-2016. In this study, 12 species of Encarsia were identified, of which Encarsia gennaroi Pedata & Giorgini, 2017 is newly recorded from Iran and six, three and two species are considered to be new records for the Mazandaran, Golestan and Guilan provinces, respectively. Several new host records for Encarsia species are also reported. Moreover, an identification key for the studied female specimens of Encarsia is provided. The identified Encarsia species are as follows: E. aleurochitonis (Mercet, 1931), E. aurantii (Howard), E. azimi Hayat,