Review of species of the Old World genus Doryctophasmus Enderlein, 1912 (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Doryctinae).

The Old World doryctine wasp genus Doryctophasmus Enderlein, 1912 is reviewed. Two new species, D. beninus sp. nov. and D. madagascarus sp. nov., are described and illustrated from the Afrotropical region. The illustrated redescriptions of D. ferrugineiceps Enderlein, 1912, D. ferrugineus (Granger, 1949) and D. rubrotestaceus (Granger, 1949) are provided. Lectotypes of Doryctes ferrugineus Granger 1949 and D. rubrotestaceus Granger 1949 are designated. A key for determination of six know species of Doryctophasmus is given.

Seven new Spanish species of the genus Synaldis (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Alysiinae) with mesoscutal pit.

Descriptions of seven new species of the alysiine genus Synaldis having mesoscutal pit from Spain are given: Synaldis berbegalae sp. nov., S. falcoi sp. nov., S. gilaberti sp. nov., S. jujisae sp. nov., S. lozanoae sp. nov., S. martinezae sp. nov., and S. navarroae sp. nov.

Phylogenetic affinities of Monarea Szépligeti, 1904 (Hymenoptera: Braconidae, Doryctinae, with description of a new species from Mexico.

The genus Monarea Szépligeti is recorded from Mexico for the first time. A new species, Monarea fridae sp. nov., is described and illustrated from the states of Morelos, Puebla and Jalisco, Mexico. The phylogenetic placement of the genus is investigated based on nuclear (28S) and mitochondrial (COI) DNA sequence data. Based on the relationships recovered, Monarea is transferred to the tribe Holcobraconini, which is also supported by features of the internal ovipositor structure and the venom glands and reservoir. A key to the four currently recognised species of Monarea is provided.

Properhyssalus, a new fossil genus of braconid wasps close to the genus Rhyssalus Haliday (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Rhyssalinae) from Baltic amber.

The new braconid genus and species from the subfamily Rhyssalinae, Properhyssalus szechowskii Belokobylskij, gen. et sp. nov., from late Eocene Baltic amber are described and illustrated. The differences between the new genus and the type species of Rhyssalus Haliday, 1833, Rh. clavator Haliday, 1833, are provided. The position of the previously described from Baltic amber species Rhyssalus brevicornis Brues, 1933 and Rh. rugosus Brues, 1933, as well as Palaeorhyssalus dubitosus Brues, 1933, are discussed.

Review of the genus Paradelius De Saeger, 1942 of East Asia (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Cheloninae, Adeliini) with the description of a new species from South Korea.

The East Palaearctic species of the adeliine genus Paradelius De Saeger, 1942 are reviewed. The genus Sculptomyriola Belokobylskij, 1988 is synonymised with Paradelius and treated as its subgenus. The following species are transferred to subgenus Paradelius (Sculptomyriola): P. (Sc.) extremiorientalis (Belokobylskij, 1988), comb. nov.; P. (Sc.) ghilarovi (Belokobylskij, 1988), comb. nov.; P. (Sc.) neotropicalis Shimbori & Shaw, 2019; P. (Sc.) nigrus Whitfield, 1988; P. (Sc.) rubrus Whitfield, 1988; P. (Sc.) sinevi (Belokobylskij, 1998), comb. nov. A new species Paradelius (Sculptomyriola) koreanussp. nov. from Korean Peninsula is described. The genus Sinadelius He & Chen, 2000 is synonymised with Paradelius De Saeger and also treated as its subgenus. The species Sinadeliusguangxiensis He & Chen, 2000 and S.nigricans He & Chen, 2000 are transferred to Paradelius (Sinadelius) (comb. nov.). A key for determination of the World known Paradelius species from three its subgenera, Paradelius s.str., Sculptomyriola Belokobylskij and Sinadelius He & Chen, and illustrated redescriptions of the type of genus and its Asian species are provided.

The ectoparasitoid wasp Heterospilussicanus (Marshall, 1888) (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Doryctinae) as a natural enemy of Gastralluspubens Fairmaire, 1875 (Coleoptera, Ptinidae) in Italy.

Heterospilussicanus (Marshall, 1888) is redescribed and illustrated based on the holotype of Dendrosotersicanus Marshall, 1888 and on recently collected material from its type locality (Sicily, Italy). Previous host records for this species are unreliable. Here, the host of H.sicanus, the rare ptinid beetle Gastralluspubens Fairmaire, 1875, is recorded for the first time, having been reared in a historic library in Palermo, Italy. Heterospilussicanus is compared with the similar species Telebolus (= Heterospilus) corsicus Marshall, 1888, which was described in the same monograph from Corsica (France), and it is also redescribed and illustrated. Atoreuteusceballosi Docavo Alberti, 1960, syn. nov. is synonymised under Heterospilussicanus (Marshall, 1888), and Hormiopterus (= Rhaconotus) ollivieri Giraud var. flava Fahringer, 1931, syn. nov. is a junior synonym of Heterospiluscephi Rohwer, 1925. A key for determination of the Western Palaearctic Heterospilus species with a striate vertex is provided and the distributions of H.sicanus and H.corsicus are discussed.

Mitogenome architecture supports the non-monophyly of the cosmopolitan parasitoid wasp subfamily Doryctinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) recovered by nuclear and mitochondrial phylogenomics.

Mitochondrial DNA gene organisation is an important source of phylogenetic information for various metazoan taxa at different evolutionary timescales, though this has not been broadly tested for all insect groups nor within a phylogenetic context. The cosmopolitan subfamily Doryctinae is a highly diverse group of braconid wasps mainly represented by ectoparasitoids of xylophagous beetle larvae. Previous molecular studies based on Sanger and genome-wide (ultraconserved elements, UCE; and mitochondrial genomes) sequence data have recovered a non-monophyletic Doryctinae, though the relationships involved have always been weakly supported. We characterised doryctine mitogenomes and conducted separate phylogenetic analyses based on mitogenome and UCE sequence data of ~100 representative doryctine genera to assess the monophyly and higher-level classification of the subfamily. We identified rearrangements of mitochondrial transfer RNAs (tRNAs) that support a non-monophyletic Doryctinae consisting of two separate non-related clades with strong geographic structure ('New World' and 'Old World' clades). This geographic structure was also consistently supported by the phylogenetic analyses preformed with mitogenome and UCE sequence data. These results highlight the utility of the mitogenome gene rearrangements as a potential source of phylogenetic information at different evolutionary timescales.

The Diversity of Parasitoids and Their Role in the Control of the Siberian Moth, Dendrolimus sibiricus (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae), a Major Coniferous Pest in Northern Asia.

The Siberian moth, Dendrolimus sibiricus Tschetv., 1908 (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae) is a conifer pest that causes unprecedented forest mortality in Northern Asia, leading to enormous ecological and economic losses. This is the first study summarizing data on the parasitoid diversity and parasitism of this pest over the last 118 years (1905-2022). Based on 860 specimens of freshly reared and archival parasitoids, 16 species from two orders (Hymenoptera and Diptera) were identified morphologically and/or with the use of DNA barcoding. For all of them, data on distribution and hosts and images of parasitoid adults are provided. Among them, the braconid species, Meteorus versicolor (Wesmael, 1835), was documented as a parasitoid of D. sibiricus for the first time. The eastern Palaearctic form, Aleiodes esenbeckii (Hartig, 1838) dendrolimi (Matsumura, 1926), status nov., was resurrected from synonymy as a valid subspecies, and a key for its differentiation from the western Palaearctic subspecies Aleiodes esenbeckii ssp. esenbecki is provided. DNA barcodes of 11 parasitoid species from Siberia, i.e., nine hymenopterans and two dipterans, represented novel records and can be used for accurate molecular genetic identification of species. An exhaustive checklist of parasitoids accounting for 93 species associated with D. sibirisus in northern Asia was compiled. Finally, the literature and original data on parasitism in D. sibiricus populations for the last 83 years (1940-2022) were analysed taking into account the pest population dynamics (i.e., growth, outbreak, decline, and depression phases). A gradual time-lagged increase in egg and pupal parasitism in D. sibiricus populations was detected, with a peak in the pest decline phase. According to long-term observations, the following species are able to cause significant mortality of D. sibiricus in Northern Asia: the hymenopteran egg parasitoids Telenomus tetratomus and Ooencyrtus pinicolus; the larval parasitoids Aleiodes esenbeckii sp. dendrolimi, Cotesia spp., and Glyptapanteles liparidis; and the dipteran pupal parasitoids Masicera sphingivora, Tachina sp., and Blepharipa sp. Their potential should be further explored in order to develop biocontrol programs for this important forest pest.

Six new Dinotrema species (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) from Spain, with prescutellar pit and medially sculptured propodeum.

Descriptions of six new species of the genus Dinotrema from Spain with smooth or only medially sculptured propodeum are provided. The new species described are: D. achterbergi sp. nov., D. broadi sp. nov., D. enanum sp. nov., D. fischerianum sp. nov., D. munki sp. nov. and D. pappi sp. nov.

Heterospilus Haliday, 1836 (Hymenoptera: Braconidae, Doryctinae) from China with a key to species.

The Chinese species of the genus Heterospilus Haliday, 1836 from the Parasitic Hymenoptera Collection of Zhejiang University were studied and thirty-four species are recognized, including 12 previously described species. Eighteen new species of this genus are described and illustrated: Heterospilus (Heterospilus) alternicoloratus sp. nov., H.(H.) balicyba sp. nov., H.(H.) chui sp. nov., H.(H.) curvisulcus sp. nov., H.(H.) densistriatus sp. nov., H.(H.) fujianensis sp. nov., H.(H.) jianfengensis sp. nov., H.(H.) liui sp. nov., H.(H.) longiventrius sp. nov., H.(H.) nanlingensis sp. nov., H.(H.) parvus sp. nov., H.(H.) prodigiosus sp. nov., H.(H.) punctatus sp. nov., H.(H.) qingliangensis sp. nov., H.(H.) semidepressus sp. nov., H.(H.) setosiscutum sp. nov., H.(H.) setosus sp. nov., and H.(H.) tenuitergum sp. nov. Seven species of Heterospilus are recorded for China for the first time: H. (Eoheterospilus) rubrocinctus (Ashmead, 1905), H.(H.) alboapicalis Belokobylskij, 1994, H.(H.) ater Fischer, 1960, H.(H.) cephi Rohwer, 1925, H.(H.) kerzhneri Belokobylskij et Maetô, 2009, H.(H.) tauricus Telenga, 1941, and H.(H.) tulyensis Belokobylskij, 1994. Two new synonyms are proposed: H. asiaticola Belokobylskij et Maetô, 2009 with H. chinensis Chen et Shi, 2004 and H. gracilis Shi et Chen with H. separatus Fischer, 1960. A key to the Chinese species of Heterospilus is provided.

New descriptions and new records of the braconid parasitoids subfamilies Doryctinae and Rhyssalinae (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) in the fauna of South Korea.

Five doryctine species, Aivalykuskseniae sp. nov., Dendrosotinusgajwadongus sp. nov., Doryctes (Plyctes) jinjuensissp. nov., Neoheterospilus (Neoheterospilus) geochangussp. nov., and Spathiusfumipennis sp. nov., are described as new for sciences from South Korea. Five doryctine genera, Aivalykus Nixon, Dendrosoter Wesmael, Dendrosotinus Telenga, Guaygata Marsh and Pareucorystes Tobias, and fifteen species are recorded in the fauna of the Korean Peninsula for the first time. Additionally, two genera from the subfamily Rhyssalinae, Proacrisis Tobias and Histeromerus Wesmael, and two species, Proacrisisorientalis Tobias, 1983 and Histeromerusorientalis Chou & Chou, 1991, are recorded in the fauna of Korea for the first time.

New species of the genus Sonanus Belokobylskij & Konishi, 2001 (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Doryctinae) from Korean Peninsula.

A new species of the doryctine genus Sonanus Belokobylskij & Konishi, 2001, S. tselikhae sp. nov., is described and illustrated from the South Korea. For the first time, the photographs of the type species of the genus Sonanus, S. senzuensis Belokobylskij & Konishi, 2001, are provided. A key to the known Asian species of this genus is also provided.

Doryctinae (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) from Baltic amber: description of a new genus and species.

A new genus and species of the braconid parasitoid subfamily Doryctinae, Palaeorhoptrocentrus kanti Belokobylskij, gen. et sp. nov., from the late Eocene Baltic amber are described and illustrated from two females. This genus is characterised by the fore wing having postfurcal position of the recurrent vein (m-cu), distally closed brachial (second subdiscal) cell, not interstitial parallel vein (CU1a), and short submedial (subbasal) cell in hind wing. Doryctomorpha tertiaria Brues, 1933 is transferred to the genus Palaeorhoptrocentrus gen. nov., P. tertiaria (Brues, 1933), comb. nov. The new genus is compared with the similar extant genera Dendrosotinus Telenga, 1941, Guaygata Marsh, 1993, and Rhoptrocentrus Marshall, 1897.

A new and the second fossil species of the genus Ephedrus Haliday, 1833(Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) from Baltic amber.

A new species of aphid parasitoid, Ephedrus carsteni Davidian, sp. nov. (Braconidae: Aphidiinae), is described and illustrated from Late Eocene Baltic amber. This new species was compared with the fossil Ephedrus mirabilis Timon-David, 1944 (Oligocene imprint from Bassin de Marseille), E. primordialis Brues, 1933 (Eocene Baltic amber) and E. rasnitsyni Davidian & Kaliuzhna, 2021 (Eocene Sakhalinian amber), as well as with the extant E. validus (Haliday, 1833) and E. carinatus Tomanovic, 2020.

Third new fossil species of the genus Ephedrus Haliday, 1833 (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) from Baltic amber.

A new species of aphid parasitoid from the genus Ephedrus Haliday, E. zaikai Davidian, sp. nov. (Braconidae: Aphidiinae), is described and illustrated from Late Eocene Baltic amber. This new species was compared with described fossil taxa Ephedrus mirabilis Timon-David, 1944 (Oligocene imprint from Bassin de Marseille), Ephedrus carsteni Davidian, 2023 and E. primordialis Brues, 1933 (both from Eocene Baltic amber), and E. rasnitsyni Davidian & Kaliuzhna, 2021 (Eocene Sakhalinian amber), as well as with extant E. niger Gautier, Bonnamour & Gaumont, 1929 and E. chaitophori Grdenfors, 1986.

A new genus and species of the aphid parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) from Baltic amber.

A new genus and species, of aphid parasitoid, Protoctonus groehni Davidian, gen. et sp. nov. (Braconidae: Aphidiinae), are described from Late Eocene Baltic amber. This new genus is similar to fossil genera Protacanthoides Mackauer, 1961, Promonoctonia Star, 1973 and Sakhalinoctonus Davidian, 2021, as well as with extant Calaphidius Mackauer, 1961, Falciconus Mackauer, 1959 and Aclitus Foerster, 1862. The new genus differs from aforementioned ones by having fewer antennomeres, and in elements of fore wing venation, propodeum areolation, and shape and setosity of the ovipositor sheath.

First record of the genus Spathiomorpha Tobias, 1976 (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Doryctinae) in the New World, with the description of a new species.

A new species of the doryctine genus Spathiomorpha Tobias, 1976, S. mexicana sp. nov., is described and illustrated from montane region in the state of Chiapas, southeast Mexico. This represents the first record of this genus in the New World. A key to the currently described species of Spathiomorpha genus is provided.

New species of the aphid parasitoids of the genus Binodoxys Mackauer (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) from the fauna of Russia.

The descriptions of two new species from the genus Binodoxys Mackauer characterised by short prongs on the posterior margin of the last metasomal sternite are provided from the north-western territory of the European part and Eastern Siberia of Russia. Binodoxys crataegi sp. nov. was reared from the aphid Aphis pomi De Geer, 1773 on Crataegus sp. in the St. Petersburg region, but B. ekaterinaе sp. nov. was collected by net in Irkutsk Province, near Baikal Lake, and the host is unknown.

Kerevata Belokobylskij (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Rogadinae) is no longer a Papua New Guinean endemic with descriptions of three new species from the Indomalayan Region.

The rogadine genus Kerevata Belokobylskij is newly reported from the Indomalayan region. We describe and illustrate three new species, two from India (K. kethai sp. nov. and K. orientalia sp. nov.) and one from Vietnam (K. longi sp. nov.) and provide an illustrated key to the extant species of the genus along with the photographic illustration of the type species of K. pacifica Belokobylskij. Range extension and morphological characters of Kerevata are discussed.

Mitochondrial phylogenomics and mitogenome organization in the parasitoid wasp family Braconidae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonoidea).

BACKGROUND: Mitochondrial (mt) nucleotide sequence data has been by far the most common tool employed to investigate evolutionary relationships. While often considered to be more useful for shallow evolutionary scales, mt genomes have been increasingly shown also to contain valuable phylogenetic information about deep relationships. Further, mt genome organization provides another important source of phylogenetic information and gene reorganizations which are known to be relatively frequent within the insect order Hymenoptera. Here we used a dense taxon sampling comprising 148 mt genomes (132 newly generated) collectively representing members of most of the currently recognised subfamilies of the parasitoid wasp family Braconidae, which is one of the largest radiations of hymenopterans. We employed this data to investigate the evolutionary relationships within the family and to assess the phylogenetic informativeness of previously known and newly discovered mt gene rearrangements. RESULTS: Most subfamilial relationships and their composition obtained were similar to those recovered in a previous phylogenomic study, such as the restoration of Trachypetinae and the recognition of Apozyginae and Proteropinae as valid braconid subfamilies. We confirmed and detected phylogenetic signal in previously known as well as novel mt gene rearrangements, including mt rearrangements within the cyclostome subfamilies Doryctinae and Rogadinae. CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed that both the mt genome DNA sequence data and gene organization contain valuable phylogenetic signal to elucidate the evolution within Braconidae at different taxonomic levels. This study serves as a basis for further investigation of mt gene rearrangements at different taxonomic scales within the family.