mostafa ghafouri moghaddam

The book "Lepidoptera Iranica" is a comprehensive and meticulously researched publication that explores the butterfly and moth fauna of Iran. Edited by Hossein Rajaei and Ole Karsholt, the book includes contributions from seventy-three Iranian and international researchers over 13 years. The book provides a historical review of lepidopterology in Iran and discusses the general patterns of Lepidoptera fauna in the country. It also estimates the number of Lepidoptera species waiting to be discovered in Iran and includes a gazetteer of elusive localities of Iranian Lepidoptera records. The final chapter is a comprehensive catalogue of the Lepidoptera of Iran, including a checklist of all 4,812 known species, as well as information and notes on their taxonomy, distribution, and biology. The book serves as an important tool for scholars, preservationists, and enthusiasts, and highlights the importance of continued research and conservation efforts in the country.

Iranian species of the superfamily Platygastroidea (Hymenoptera) belonging to two families Platygastridae, (12 genera, 35 species) and Scelionidae (13 genera, 46 species), are reviewed. The recorded platygastroid species from Iran represent a very small assemblage of the world fauna, and certainly not the complete list from Iran. Except for a few recently described species, the others are found in many other countries as well. The known distribution for 27 species (77.1%) of Platygastridae of Iran is restricted to the Palaearctic region, while a smaller percentage was found in the Afrotropical (14.3%) and Nearctic (8.6%) regions. The distributions of 77.8% of Iranian scelionids are strictly Palaearctic, while the remaining scelionids were found also in the Nearctic (11.1%), Oriental (11.1%), Afrotropical (8.9%), Australasian (2.2%) and Neotropic regions (2.2%). Considering the sporadic treatment of platygastroids in Iran, it is evident that major parts of the country, including the eastern third, remain unexplored.

This paper presents new information on black fungus gnats (Sciaridae) based on field studies at seven localities in Iran. Five sciarid species from the genera Bradysia Winnertz, Corynoptera Winnertz and Lycoriella Frey were collected with Malaise traps, yellow sticky traps, sweep net and an aspirator between 2015 and 2021: Bradysia cellarum Frey, 1948; B. ocellaris (Comstock, 1882); B. tilicola (Loew, 1850); Corynoptera fatigans (Johannsen, 1912); Lycoriella sativae (Johannsen, 1912). All species are first records for the Sistan and Baluchestan province. Bradysia tilicola (Loew) is new to Iran and was recorded for the first time in the Middle East. This brings the number of known sciarid species from Iran to seven. For five species are given a short morphological diagnosis and the global distribution. A map illustrates the distribution of all identified sciarid species in Iran.

For a long period, the Iranian entomologists followed a rather narrow spectrum of methods to collect arthropods that are described in taxomomic papers. Recently, this knowledge gap was filled with the publication of a book entitled “Methods for Collecting Insects and other Terrestrial Arthropods”. The book efficiently describes 110 collecting methods in 18 chapters and 468 papges and it contains as well a huge collection of more than 300 illustrations and a considerable set of references. It is highly recommended for both students, professional entomologists and academic personnel.

The subfamily Microgastrinae Foerster, 1862 (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonoidea, Braconidae) is a challenging and the most diverse groups of braconids that has significant importance in biological control programs. They are koinobiont endoparasitoids of lepidopteran larvae and generally attack and develop in early instars and exit from the host larvae to pupate. In current paper, the findings of primary taxonomic investigations on these valuable biocontrol agents is presented and for each genus, the general habitus of a represented species is illustrated. Also, the proportion of known hosts for some genera was provided. The purpose of this paper is to provide a preliminary information of the Microgastrinae in Iran to serve as a starting point for future studies on the group and to encourage further study of more species in other regions of Iran, on various aspects of taxonomic, ecological, host associations, conservation, DNA barcoding and bio-control.

A faunistic survey was conducted in Ardabil province (North-western Iran), during spring 2013 to study the ichneumonids (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) associated with grasslands in this area. Samplings were carried out by the sweeping net in natural grasslands, neighboring fields and orchards. A total of twelve ichneumonid species belonging to nine genera and five subfamilies were collected and identified. The species were identified as follow: Collyria coxator (Villers, 1789), Diadromus collaris (Gravenhorst, 1829), Diplazon laetatorius (Fabricius, 1781), Diplazon pectoratorius (Gravenhorst, 1829), Homotropus crassicornis (Thomson, 1890), Homotropus elegans (Gravenhorst, 1829), Homotropus signatus (Gravenhorst, 1829), Lysibia nana (Gravenhorst, 1829), Orthocentrus castellanus (Ceballos, 1963), Picrostigeus setiger (Brischke, 1871), Promethes sulcator (Gravenhorst, 1829) and Syrphophilus bizonarius (Gravenhorst, 1829). Homotropus crassicornis is newly recorded for the fauna of Iran. An identification key to the known species of the genus Homotropus Foerster, 1869 from Iran is presented.

Lady beetles are the most important predatory species among arthropods, so studying their population parameters gives a clear picture about their life span. The life histories of variegated lady beetle, Hippodamia variegata (Goeze), fed on the English grain aphid, Sitobion avenae Fabricius, on different host plants were studied under laboratory conditions, at 25 ± 1 °C, 65 ± 5% Relative Humidity and a photoperiod of 16:8 (Light: Dark) h. Developmental, survival and fecundity data were analyzed using the age-stage, two-sex life table method. According to the age-stage, two-sex life table, the net reproductive rates (R0) of ladybird fed on S. avenae reared on Triticum aestivum var. tajan, Hordeum vulgare var. Dasht, Zea mays var. single cross 704 and Sorghum durra var. Speed feed were estimated to be 235.38 ± 36.15, 190.74 ± 33.37, 293.54 ± 46.66 and 137.46 ± 23.66 female offspring / female, respectively. Based on the results, the intrinsic rate of increase as an index of population increase of H. variegata, was 0.181 ± 0.006, 0.179 ± 0.006, 0.163 ± 0.006 and 0.162 ± 0.006 h-1 preyed on host reared on T. aestivum var. tajan Z. mays var. single cross 704 S. durra var. Speed feed and H. vulgare var. Dasht, respectively. Our findings demonstrate that by using the age-stage, two-sex life table we can accurately describe the growth, survival and development of the predator. Our finding may provide basic information for developing aphid biological control programs.