Parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Doryctinae) reared from grape cane borer beetle Amphicerus bimaculatus (Olivier) (Bostrichidae) inhabiting pomegranate trees Punica granatum L. (Lythraceae) in Syria, new records and new tritrophic associations

ABSTRACT

In the present study, four doryctine wasps, Dendrosotinus (Dendrosotinus) ferrugineus (Marshall, 1888), Euscelinus sarawacus Westwood, 1882, Leluthia (Euhecabolodes) nr. ruguloscolyti (Fischer, 1962), and Monolexis fuscicornis Foerster, 1863 (Braconidae), are recorded here for the first time for the Syrian fauna. All were reared from larvae of the grape borer beetle, Amphicerus bimaculatus (Olivier) (Bostrichidae), attacking Punica granatum L. (Lythraceae) in Homs (Syria). Both E. sarawacus and M. fuscicornis were formerly recorded as parasitoids of Amphicerus bimaculatus (Olivier) (Bostrichidae) attacking Punica granatum L. (Lythraceae). The other two, D. ferrugineus and L. nr. ruguloscolyti, are here recorded for the first time in association with A. bimaculatus and Punica granatum. The newly recorded species are here diagnosed and illustrated.

KEYWORDS:

• New records
• Dendrosotinus
• Euscelinus
• Leluthia
• Monolexis
• Homs

Acknowledgements

We express our sincere gratitude to Dr Andrew Polaszek for his valuable suggestions and critical review of the manuscript that greatly improved the work. We also extend our gratitude to Dr Adrian Pont for his kind help in improving the “Discussion” section linguistically.

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