New genera of Afrotropical Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera: Cerocephalidae, Epichrysomallidae, Pirenidae and Pteromalidae).

As a preliminary step towards the development of a key to genera of several families of Afrotropical Chalcidoidea, seven new genera in four families are described: Cerocephalidae-Milokoa Mitroiu, gen. nov. (type species: Milokoa villemantae Mitroiu, sp. nov.); Epichrysomallidae-Delvareus Rasplus, Mitroiu & van Noort, gen. nov. (type species: Delvareus dicranostylae Rasplus, Mitroiu & van Noort, sp. nov.); Pirenidae-Afrothopus Mitroiu, gen. nov. (type species: Afrothopus georgei Mitroiu, sp. nov.); Pteromalidae-Kerangania Mitroiu, gen. nov. (type species: Kerangania nuda Mitroiu, sp. nov.), Pilosalis Mitroiu, Rasplus & van Noort, gen. nov. (type species: Pilosalis barbatulus Mitroiu, sp. nov.), Scrobesia Mitroiu & Rasplus, gen. nov. (type species: Scrobesia acutigaster Mitroiu & Rasplus, sp. nov.), and Spiniclava Mitroiu & Rasplus, gen. nov. (type species: Spiniclava baaiensis Mitroiu & Rasplus, sp. nov.). Additionally, the following new species are described: Pilosalis bouceki Mitroiu & Rasplus, sp. nov., Pilosalis eurys Mitroiu & van Noort, sp. nov., Pilosalis minutus Mitroiu, sp. nov., Pilosalis platyscapus Mitroiu, Rasplus & van Noort, sp. nov., Scrobesia pondo Mitroiu, sp. nov., and Spiniclava setosa Mitroiu, sp. nov. All taxa are illustrated and the relationships with similar taxa are discussed. For each non-monotypic genus a key to species is provided.

The Chalcidoidea bush of life: evolutionary history of a massive radiation of minute wasps.

Chalcidoidea are mostly parasitoid wasps that include as many as 500 000 estimated species. Capturing phylogenetic signal from such a massive radiation can be daunting. Chalcidoidea is an excellent example of a hyperdiverse group that has remained recalcitrant to phylogenetic resolution. We combined 1007 exons obtained with Anchored Hybrid Enrichment with 1048 ultra-conserved elements (UCEs) for 433 taxa including all extant families, >95% of all subfamilies, and 356 genera chosen to represent the vast diversity of the superfamily. Going back and forth between the molecular results and our collective knowledge of morphology and biology, we detected bias in the analyses that was driven by the saturation of nucleotide data. Our final results are based on a concatenated analysis of the least saturated exons and UCE datasets (2054 loci, 284 106 sites). Our analyses support an expected sister relationship with Mymarommatoidea. Seven previously recognized families were not monophyletic, so support for a new classification is discussed. Natural history in some cases would appear to be more informative than morphology, as illustrated by the elucidation of a clade of plant gall associates and a clade of taxa with planidial first-instar larvae. The phylogeny suggests a transition from smaller soft-bodied wasps to larger and more heavily sclerotized wasps, with egg parasitism as potentially ancestral for the entire superfamily. Deep divergences in Chalcidoidea coincide with an increase in insect families in the fossil record, and an early shift to phytophagy corresponds with the beginning of the "Angiosperm Terrestrial Revolution". Our dating analyses suggest a middle Jurassic origin of 174 Ma (167.3-180.5 Ma) and a crown age of 162.2 Ma (153.9-169.8 Ma) for Chalcidoidea. During the Cretaceous, Chalcidoidea may have undergone a rapid radiation in southern Gondwana with subsequent dispersals to the Northern Hemisphere. This scenario is discussed with regard to knowledge about the host taxa of chalcid wasps, their fossil record and Earth's palaeogeographic history.

Sown Wildflowers Enhance Habitats of Pollinators and Beneficial Arthropods in a Tomato Field Margin.

We evaluated the capacity of selected plants, sown along a processing tomato field margin in central Greece and natural vegetation, to attract beneficial and Hymenoptera pollinating insects and questioned whether they can distract pollinators from crop flowers. Measurements of flower cover and attracted pollinators and beneficial arthropods were recorded from early-May to mid-July, during the cultivation period of the crop. Flower cover was higher in the sown mixtures compared to natural vegetation and was positively correlated with the number of attracted pollinators. The sown Glebionis coronaria, Coriandrum sativum, Anethum graveolens, and Fagopyrum esculentum attracted mainly wild bees, which were the most abundant pollinating insects. In the natural vegetation, Rapistrum rugosum attracted mainly honeybees, while Asteraceae, Convolvulaceae, and Apiaceae species attracted wild bees. Beneficial arthropod abundance and diversity were higher in the sown mixture. Tomato flowers were visited by a small number of wild bees. Their number was not affected by the distance from the field margin, indicating no distraction effect from the sown or natural vegetation flowering plants. Our results suggest that selected flowering plants can improve the field margin habitats for pollinating insects and beneficial arthropods, but more work is needed to elucidate the effect on crop pollination.

Revision of the Afrotropical species of Norbanus Walker (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae).

The Afrotropical species of Norbanus Walker, 1843 (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) are revised. Four previously described Afrotropical species are recognized as valid and redescribed: N. africanus Subba Rao, 1973, N. garouae (Risbec, 1956) comb. nov. (transferred from Bruchobius Ashmead), N. kitegaensis (Risbec, 1957) and N. seyrigi (Risbec, 1952) comb. nov. (from Habrocytus Thomson). In addition, the Mediterranean species N. tenuicornis Boucek, 1970 is recorded for the first time from the Afrotropical region, and 21 species are described as new: N. aequus sp. nov., N. awi sp. nov., N. brevicephalus sp. nov., N. breviclava sp. nov., N. caloramans sp. nov., N. draco sp. nov., N. erebus sp. nov., N. foritempus sp. nov., N. gibber sp. nov., N. gracilis sp. nov., N. incombo sp. nov., N. ingens sp. nov., N. longissimus sp. nov., N. maliarphae sp. nov., N. mustatai sp. nov., N. pilosus sp. nov., N. pleuralis sp. nov., N. polaszeki sp. nov., N. prinslooi sp. nov., N. rotundus sp. nov., and N. sunabron sp. nov. Three extralimital species from North Africa are included in the key: N. cerasiops (Masi, 1922), N. guyoni (Giraud, 1869), and N. obscurus (Masi, 1922). Lectotypes are designated for N. cerasiops, N. kitegaensis and N. seyrigi. The subgenus Picroscytoides Masi is placed in synonymy with Norbanus s.s. syn. nov. Host records are given for several new species, including some economically important pests of maize, sorghum or rice.

Fauna Europaea: Hymenoptera - Apocrita (excl. Ichneumonoidea).

Fauna Europaea provides a public web-service with an index of scientific names (including important synonyms) of all living European land and freshwater animals, their geographical distribution at country level (up to the Urals, excluding the Caucasus region), and some additional information. The Fauna Europaea project covers about 230,000 taxonomic names, including 130,000 accepted species and 14,000 accepted subspecies. This represents a huge effort by more than 400 contributing specialists throughout Europe and is a unique (standard) reference suitable for many users in science, government, industry, nature conservation and education. Hymenoptera is one of the four largest orders of insects, with about 130,000 described species. In the Fauna Europaea database, 'Hymenoptera - Apocrita (excluding Ichneumonoidea)' comprises 13 superfamilies, 52 families, 91 subfamilies, 38 tribes and 13,211 species. The paper includes a complete list of taxa dealt with, the number of species in each and the name of the specialist responsible for data acquisition. As a general conclusion about the European fauna of Hymenoptera, the best known countries in terms of recorded species are those from northwestern Europe, with the least known fauna probably in the more eastern and southeastern parts of Europe.

Revision of the Oriental species of Apsilocera Boucek (Hymenoptera, Pteromalidae), with description of twelve new species.

The Oriental species of Apsilocera Boucek, 1956 (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) are revised and the limits of the genus are reevaluated. Bulolosa Boucek, 1990 and Kratinka Boucek, 1988 are treated as synonyms of Apsilocera, syn. n. Bulolosa bidens Boucek and Kratinka brevis Boucek are transferred to Apsilocera as A. bidens (Boucek) and A. brevis (Boucek) comb. n., respectively. Twelve new species (all Mitroiu & van Achterberg) are described in Apsilocera: A. acuticristata sp. n., A. bicristata sp. n., A. cornuta sp. n., A. dentata sp. n., A. dupla sp. n., A. elongata sp. n., A. fulvipennis sp. n., A. longicornis sp. n., A. maculata sp. n., A. obtusicristata sp. n., A. palliclava sp. n., and A. tuberculata sp. n. An illustrated key to the females and males of Oriental species is provided.