Bull 187 BULLETIN OF THE IRAQ NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM Kareem et al. Bull. Iraq nat. Hist. Mus. (2022) 17 (2): 187-195. https://doi.org/10.26842/binhm.7.2022.17.2.0187 ORIGINAL ARTICLE FIRST RECORD OF TWO PARASITOID WASPS OF THE FAMILY CHALCIDIDAE (HYMENOPTERA) IN IRAQ Ali A. Kareem*♦, Hossein Lotfalizadeh**, Ayad Alsendi***, Raad Kareem Aljaafari* and Sienaa M. Al-Zurfi* * Plant Protection Department, College of Agriculture, University of Kerbala, Kerbala, Iraq **Plant Protection Research Department, East-Azarbaijan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, AREEO, Tabriz, Iran ***Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran ♦Corresponding author: ali.kareem@uokerbala.edu.iq Received Date: 30 June 2022, Accepted Date: 03 Sept. 2022, Published Date: 20 December 2022 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ABSTRACT The family Chalcididae (Order: Hymenoptera) is known as one of the large chalcidoid wasps with some distinct morphological characters. The first occurrence of two parasitoid species belonging to this family was reported in the Al-Husayniya district Karbala Province, Iraq; which are: Brachymeria podagrica (Fabricius, 1787) and Chalcis myrifex (Sulzer, 1776). Both species were collected by using the sweeping net from orchards during July 2020. Keywords: Brachymeria, Chalcididae, Chalcis, New record, Karbala, Parasitoid. INTRODUCTION The family of Chalcididae (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea) is ascetically big and globally distributed, presently containing more than 85 genera and about 1,564 species under five subfamilies (Noyes, 2020; Cruaud et al., 2021). These are parasitic wasps of cocoon of two orders (Lepidoptera and Diptera) species (Delvare, 1995) and are endoparasitoids wasps called host group-specific (Dajoz, 2010) of Diptera species, Coleoptera larvae, Lepidoptera species, and some species of Tenthredinidae family and Neuroptera order (Herting, 1978; Bouček, 1988; Lotfalizadeh et al., 2012). More than 122 hosts incest can be parasitized by twenty-five species of Chalcididae; of these, ninety-eight are Lepidoptera, sixteen Diptera, thirteen Hymenoptera, and four Coleoptera (Ferrer, 2010). Lotfalizadeh and Mohammadi- Khoramabadi (2021) believe that 71% of known species from Iran have unknown biology and the rest are parasitoids of Lepidoptera, Coleoptera and Diptera as the main hosts of the family. So far, more than six species belonging to three genera of Chalcidoidea have been reported from Iraq (Noyes, 2020). These are Brachymeria aegyptiaca Masi, B. femorata (Panzer), B. obtusata (Foerster), B. tibialis (Walker), Cratocentrus inermus Delvare and Kriechbaumerella BULLETIN OF THE IRAQ NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM Iraq Natural History Research Center & Museum, University of Baghdad https://jnhm.uobaghdad.edu.iq/index.php/BINHM/Home Copyright © Bulletin of the Iraq Natural History Museum Online ISSN: 2311-9799-Print ISSN: 1017-8678 https://doi.org/10.26842/binhm.7.2022.17.2.0187 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0054-2737 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7927-819X https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5142-7878 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3646-3149 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8332-1472 mailto:ali.kareem@uokerbala.edu.iq https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://jnhm.uobaghdad.edu.iq/index.php/BINHM/Home 188 BULLETIN OF THE IRAQ NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM First record of two parasitoid wasps mansues (Nikolskaya). Therefore, the family Chalcididae is poorly known in Iraq and further samplings are badly needed. Recently, many parasitic wasps novelty reported from Iraq (Al- Zurfi et al., 2020; Kareem et al., 2020 a, b). The objective of the work is to report the first occurrence of two parasitoids of the family Chalcididae from Iraq. MATERIALS AND METHODS The collecting of specimens was done by using the sweeping net from orchards in Al- Husayniya quarter in Karbala city, Iraq in July 2020. These were mounted by insect pin and labelled and primarily identify to high taxa under a stereo microscope at 80x magnifications. The specimens were primarily identified and confirmed by the second author (HL). Identifications were done using the keys in Masi (1951), Steffan (1951, 1959), Bouček and Sedivy (1954), Nikolskaya (1978) and Lotfalizadeh (2012). The specimens are placed in the Dr. Hossein Lotfalizadeh Lab and the insect collection of the University of Kerbala, Iraq. RESULTS The specimens were identified as Brachymeria podagrica (Fabricius, 1787) (Pl. 1) and Chalcis myrifex (Sulzer, 1776) (Pl. 2) Brachymeria podagrica (Fabricius, 1787) (Pl. 1) Synonyms: Brachymeria aligarhensis Husain and Agarwal, 1982 B. alphius (Walker, 1846) B. callipus (Kirby, 1883) B. dipterophaga (Girault and Dodd, 1915) B. eccentrica (Cameron, 1897) B. fonscolombei (Dufour, 1841) B. fonscolombei gananensis Masi, 1938 B. fonscolombei nigriflagellatae Joseph, Narendran and Joy, 1971 B. fonscolombei rufoflagellatae Joseph, Narendran and Joy, 1971 B. mikado (Cameron, 1888) B. neglecta (Masi, 1916) B. podagrica (Fabricius, 1787) B. pulchripes Holmgren, 1868 B. restituta (Walker, 1862) B. vulcani (Schmitz, 1946) B. xerxena (Walker, 1846) B. (Brachymeria) fonscolombei (Dufour, 1841) B. (Brachymeria) podagrica (Fabricius, 1787) B. (Brachymeria) restituta (Walker, 1862) B. (Matsumurameria) aligarhensis Husain and Agarwal, 1982 Chalcis alphius Walker, 1846 Ch. borneanus Cameron, 1905 Ch. callipus Kirby, 1883 189 BULLETIN OF THE IRAQ NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM Kareem et al. Ch. capensis Cameron, 1905 Ch. dipterophaga Girault and Dodd, 1915 Ch. eccentrica Cameron, 1897 Ch. femorata Nees, 1834 Ch. ferox Kieffer, 1905 Ch. ferox coxalis Kieffer, 1905 Ch. fonscolombei Dufour, 1841 Ch. garutianus Guenther, 1936 Ch. mansueta Walker, 1871 Ch. mikado Cameron, 1888 Ch. neglecta Masi, 1916 Ch. podagrica Fabricius, 1787 Ch. pulchripes (Holmgren, 1868) Ch. restituta Walker, 1862 Ch. sodalis Masi, 1917 Ch. spilopus Cameron, 1905 Ch. transvaalensis Cameron, 1911 Ch. vegai Girault, 1924 Ch. vulcani Schmitz, 1946 Ch. xerxena Walker, 1846 Tumidicoxoides kurandaensis Girault, 1913 T. paucipunctatus Girault, 1915 Materials examined: Iraq, Karbala Province, Al Husayniya District, Faculty of Agriculture, 32°31’08.00”N 45°36’31.00”E, April. 2020, 2♀♀. Measurements: Body length 4.5mm. Based on Masi (1916), its species materials are 4-6mm. Diagnosis: Such as outlined in Rajabi et al. (2011), B. podagrica is a rare characteristic species with a red hind femur. This species is identifiable by the following characters: Body mainly black with reddish hind femure, distally whitish, legs with white colours; temple above the postorbital carina densely white pupesent; mesosoma sparsely punctured dorsally; hind femure shiny and sparsely punctured, ventral teeth of femura far apart, with black points; metasoma of female shorter than B. parvula (Walker, 1834). Host: Unknown in Iraq, but it was reported as a parasitoid of different families of Diptera (Calliphoridae, Muscidae, Sarcophagidae, Tephritidae) and Lepidoptera (Lymantriidae, Noctuidae, Psychidae, Yponomeutidae) (Noyes, 2020). Note: Based on the available literature and personal communication with the Iraq Natural History Research Center and Museum, University of Baghdad (INHM), this species has not been reported from Iraq. But it commonly occurs in the Afrotropical, Palaearctic, Oriental and Nearctic areas (Noyes, 2020). Chalcis myrifex (Sulzer, 1776) (Pl. 2) Synonyms: Chalcis myrifex (Sulzer, 1776) Smicra myrifex (Sulzer, 1776) Smiera petiolata Curtis, 1833 Sphex myrifex Sulzer, 1776 Vespa dearticulata Fourcroy, 1785 Materials examined: Iraq, Karbala Province, Al Husayniya District, 32°31’08.00”N 45°36’31.00”E, April. 2020, 2♀♀. 190 BULLETIN OF THE IRAQ NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM First record of two parasitoid wasps Measurements: Body length 5 mm. Diagnosis: body dark with following yellowish areas: petiole, tegulae, face with two spots in the lateral parts of antennal scrobe, fore and mid tibiae distally, hind femur in Apical half with a large spot; scape cylindrical, slightly thickened distally; ovipositor cover by last sternite; hind femur with 15 equal teeth, basal dent of the hind femur extremely large. Host: Unknown in Iraq but C. myrifex is known as a parasitoid of Stratiomys longicornis (Scopoli, 1763) (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) (Michael, 2008). Note: Based on available literature and personal contact with the (INHM), this species has not been reported from Iraq. It is reported from the Palaearctic region (Bouček, 1952; Bouček, 1977; Kissayi et al., 2019). Plate (1): Female of B. podagrica; (A) Lateral view, (B) Dorsal view. (Red arrow represented important diagnostic characters of this species). A B 1 mm1 mm 191 BULLETIN OF THE IRAQ NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM Kareem et al. Plate (2): Female of C. myrifex; (A) Lateral view, (B) Head frontal view, (C) Lateral view, (D) Dorsal view of C. myrifex. (Red arrow represented important diagnostic characters of this species). DISCUSSION Our findings showed two new records of the Chalcididae female species occurring in Iraq. Including these two species recorded in this study, Chalcididae species in Iraq reaches eight. The male was not recorded in the area of study due to the type of traps that were used. Therefore, more survey is needed to find male of these species. The first record species of this family in Iraq was Brachymeria obtusata (Foerster, 1859) (Bouček, 1952). Many studies reported species of Chalcididae from the Middle East region including about 74 species from the UAE (Delvare, 2017) and 68 species from Iran (Lotfalizadeh et al., 2012; Falahatpisheh et al., 2018). Brachymeria podagrica was known from Iran (Rajabi et al., 2011) and was recently informed from Saudi Arabia (Abd Al Galil et al., 2022). Chalcis myrifex was not reported from the Middle East and this is the first finding of the species in this area (Lotfalizadeh et al., 2012; Falahatpisheh et al., 2018). Iraq as a big country, with diverse bioclimatic conditions, is expected to have more genera and species of the family. Therefore, future expeditions to collect further species can be advised. CONCLUSIONS This study reported for the first time two species belongs to Chalcididae, therefore this results will update the checklist of parasitoids wasps in Iraq. That can improve understanding of the diversity of bioagents and possibly use it in biological control agents the pests. A B C D 1 mm 192 BULLETIN OF THE IRAQ NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM First record of two parasitoid wasps CONFLICT OF INTERESTS STATEMENT All authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this paper. LITERATURE CITED Abd Al Galil, F. M., Al-Keridis, L. A., Al-Mekhlafi, F. A., Al-Amri, A. M. and Al-Khalifa, M. S. 2022. 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Bull. Iraq nat. Hist. Mus. (2022) 17 (2): 187-195. CHALCIDIDAEمن الزنابير الطفيلية لعائلة لنوعينالسجل األول (HYMENOPTERAفي العراق ) علي عبد الكريم *، حسين لطفلي زاده ** ، اياد السندي *** ، رعد كريم الجعفري اء م. الزرفي ** و سين العراق. كربالء، * قسم وقاية النبات ، كلية الزراعة ، جامعة كربالء ، تبريز ، ، أريو ،و التعليم، الطبيعية املوارد بحوث الزراعية و للمركز شرق أذربيجان ** إيران. إيران. *** قسم وقاية النبات، كلية الزراعة واملوارد الطبيعية، جامعة طهران، كرج، 20/12/2022، تأريخ النشر: 3/9/2022، تأريخ القبول: 30/6/2022تأريخ االستالم: الخالصة عرف عائلة ُ الزنابير ( بأنها واحدة من Order, Hymenoptera) Chalcididaeت لنوعين أول ظهور يلتسجاملتميزة. تم املظهرية الصفاتالكالسيدويد الكبيرة مع بعض كربالء ، العراق: من الطفيليات ينتميان إلى هذه العائلة في منطقة الحسينية بمحافظة Brachymeria podagrica (Fabricius, 1787) وChalcis myrifex (Sulzer, 1776). م ُج .2020 تموز خالل شهر من البساتين ةنساشبكة الكالكال النوعين باستخدام ع