Najmeh Samin

Abstract: The fauna of 21 heteropteran families including, Berytidae, Coreidae, Gerridae, Hebridae, Hydrometridae, Leptopodidae, Lygaeidae, Mesovelidae, Miridae, Nepidae, Pentatomidae, Piesmatidae, Plataspidae, Pleidae, Reduviidae, Rhopalidae, Saldidae, Scutelleridae, Stenocephalidae, Tingidae and Veliidae was studied in Western Iran (within four provinces, viz. Hamadan, Ilam, Kermanshah, Kurdistan). A total of 119 heteropteran species were collected and determined from the mentioned regions.

Abstract: The use of biological control is a fundamental tactic for pest suppression within an effective Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program. Biological control refers to the use of natural enemies against a pest population to reduce the pest's density and damage to a level lower than would occur in their absence. Biological control is designed with predators, parasitoids and pathogens. Some of these predaceous insects from many regions of Iran are studied in this paper. A total of 89 insect predator species from six orders viz. Coleoptera (31 species), Heteroptera (11 species), Diptera (10 species), Hymenoptera (15 species), Mantodea (16 species) and Odonata (6 species), were collected as biological control agents in agroecosystems of some regions of Iran.

Abstract: Of the four staphylinid groups (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae), the Staphylinine group is studied in this paper. A total of 56 species from 27 genera (including, Oxyporus Fabricius, Stenus Latreille, Astenus Stephens, Leptobium Casey, Achenium Leach, Lathrobium Gravenhorst, Micrillus Raffray, Tetartopeus Czwalina, Medon Stephens, Sunius Stephens, Paederus Fabricius, Scopaeus Erichson, Rugilus Leach, Procirrus Latreille, Othius Stephens, Gabrius Stephens, Neobisnus Ganglbauer, Philonthus Stephens, Remus Holme, Quedius Stephens, Creophilus Leach, Ocypus Leach, Staphylinus Linnaeus, Tasgius Stephens, Gyrohypnus Leach, Leptacinus Erichson, Xantholinus Dejean) and 4 subfamilies (i.e. Oxyporinae, Steninae, Paederinae, Staphylininae) are listed in this paper.

Abstract: The fauna of Cerambycidae (Coleoptera) of northwestern Iran (Ardabil, East Azarbayjan and West Azarbayjan provinces) is studied in this paper. In a total 258 species from 78 genera and 6 subfamilies including, Aseminae, Cerambycinae, Lamiinae, Lepturinae, Prioninae and Spondylidinae were collected and determined from the mentioned region.

Abstract: This paper deals with a faunistic survey on 6 families of Coleoptera including Bostrichidae, Cantharidae, Latridiidae, Malachiidae, Oedemeridae, and Ptinidae from some regions of Iran. In total 4 species within 3 genera of Bostrichidae, 11 species within 5 genera of Cantharidae, 5 species within 5 genera of Latridiidae, 5 species within 3 genera of Malachiidae, 10 species within 5 genera of Oedemeridae, and 4 species within 4 genera of Ptinidae were collected and identified. Four species (Latridiidae: 1 species; Malachiidae: 1 species; Oedemeridae: 1 species; Ptinidae: 1 species) are new records for the fauna of Iran.

Abstract: Results The analyses of generic composition and community structure were congruent, supporting a strong affinity between the Western Palaearctic ant fauna and modern Indomalayan and Australasian assemblages, and of a widespread Holarctic ant palaeofauna, and affinity between fossil Caribbean and modern Neotropical faunas. In addition, neither generic composition nor community structure of fossil assemblages showed evidence of taphonomic bias towards arboreal taxa.

Abstract: Species of Trissolcus Ashmead are potent natural enemies of stink bugs (Pentatomidae). Research on biological agents to control the brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (BMSB), in Western Europe requires reliable taxonomic resources for identification of Trissolcus wasps. To aid this research endeavor, we present a species identification key to females of Palearctic Trissolcus. Morphological characters and concepts of the genus and species groups are discussed. We discovered a number of nomenclatural and identification issues that we here rectify.

Abstract: Corresponding author: Samira Farahani, E-mail: s.farahani@rifr-ac.ir Copyright © 2016, Farahani et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Iranian Braconidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Ichneumonoidea): diversity, distribution and host association

Abstract: The West-Palaearctic Colobopsis ant populations have long been considered a single species (Colobopsis truncata). We studied the diversity of this species by employing a multidisciplinary approach and combining data from our surveys, museum and private collections, and citizen science platforms. As a result, we have revealed the existence of a second species, which we describe as Colobopsis imitans sp. nov., distributed allopatrically from Co. truncata and living in the Maghreb, Sicily and southern Iberia. While the pigmentation of Co. truncata is reminiscent of Dolichoderus quadripunctatus, that of Co. imitans is similar to Crematogaster scutellaris, with which Co. imitans lives in close spatial association, and whose foraging trails it habitually follows, similar to Camponotus lateralis and other ant-mimicking ants. The isolation between Co. imitans and Co. truncata seems to have occurred relatively recently because of significant, yet not extreme, morphometric differentiation, and to mtDNA polyphyly. Both Co. imitans and Co. truncata appear to employ mimicry of an unpalatable or aggressive ant species as an important defensive strategy; this ‘choice’ of a different model species is motivated by biogeographic reasons and appears to act as a critical evolutionary driver of their diversification.