7.3.8 Torymidae
Some studies on Torymidae of Iran have recently been conducted by various local
and foreign scientists (Modarres-Awal 1997; Ebrahimi and Ahmadian 2002;
Rakhshani et al. 2003a, 2003b; Azizkhani et al. 2005; Delvare 2005; Lotfalizadeh
and Gharali 2005; Askew et al. 2006; Fallahzadeh et al. 2008; Hesami et al. 2008;
Lotfalizadeh and Khalghani 2008). The known Torymidae species of Iran belong to
14 genera and 45 species (Lotfalizadeh and Gharali 2005; Fallahzadeh et al. 2009).
Most of the collected species of Iranian torymids (76%) were reared on gall wasps
(Hym.: Cynipidae) (Fig. 7.7). Mantodea and Cecidomyiidae (Diptera) take the
second rank. The genus Megastigmus was reported as a phytophagous genus in
Iran that this genus was treated as an independent family, Megastigmidae (Jansta
et al. 2017). Rajabi et al. (2011) mentioned that a torymid species was the most
important parasitoid of the Rosaceous branch borer in Esfahan.
7.4 The Superfamily Ichneumonoidea
The superfamily Ichneumonoidea is the largest and the most species-rich superfamily of the order Hymenoptera or perhaps of the class Insecta. Until 2016, 46,506
species of the superfamily were listed in the world catalogue of this superfamily
prepared by Yu et al. (2012). It has been estimated that the number of species in this
superfamily will exceed more than 100,000 species in the world. Almost all species
of this superfamily are parasitoids of holometabolous insects and thus regulates the
populations of their hosts in both agricultural and natural (forests and pastures)
Fig. 7.6 Biological association of the Pteromalidae family in the Iranian fauna
248
H. Lotfalizadeh and A. Mohammadi-Khoramabadi
Some studies on Torymidae of Iran have recently been conducted by various local
and foreign scientists (Modarres-Awal 1997; Ebrahimi and Ahmadian 2002;
Rakhshani et al. 2003a, 2003b; Azizkhani et al. 2005; Delvare 2005; Lotfalizadeh
and Gharali 2005; Askew et al. 2006; Fallahzadeh et al. 2008; Hesami et al. 2008;
Lotfalizadeh and Khalghani 2008). The known Torymidae species of Iran belong to
14 genera and 45 species (Lotfalizadeh and Gharali 2005; Fallahzadeh et al. 2009).
Most of the collected species of Iranian torymids (76%) were reared on gall wasps
(Hym.: Cynipidae) (Fig. 7.7). Mantodea and Cecidomyiidae (Diptera) take the
second rank. The genus Megastigmus was reported as a phytophagous genus in
Iran that this genus was treated as an independent family, Megastigmidae (Jansta
et al. 2017). Rajabi et al. (2011) mentioned that a torymid species was the most
important parasitoid of the Rosaceous branch borer in Esfahan.
7.4 The Superfamily Ichneumonoidea
The superfamily Ichneumonoidea is the largest and the most species-rich superfamily of the order Hymenoptera or perhaps of the class Insecta. Until 2016, 46,506
species of the superfamily were listed in the world catalogue of this superfamily
prepared by Yu et al. (2012). It has been estimated that the number of species in this
superfamily will exceed more than 100,000 species in the world. Almost all species
of this superfamily are parasitoids of holometabolous insects and thus regulates the
populations of their hosts in both agricultural and natural (forests and pastures)
Fig. 7.6 Biological association of the Pteromalidae family in the Iranian fauna
248
H. Lotfalizadeh and A. Mohammadi-Khoramabadi