A new genus is split off the genus Craspedolcus Enderlein, 1920 (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Braconinae): Maculibracongen. n. with type species Maculibracon abruptussp. n. The genus Craspedolcus Enderlein sensu stricto is redefined, a key to both genera and to their species in China, Thailand and Vietnam is included. Craspedolcus obscuriventris Enderlein, 1920, (syn. n.) is a new synonym of Craspe...

Microgastrinae is one of the largest subfamilies of the Braconidae with about 2,000 described species worldwide. These wasps are of enormous ecological interest due to their role in controlling the caterpillar populations. This study analyses diversity and community structure within the Microgastrinae in the Artikutza Forest, located in the Peñas de Aia Natural Park, western Pyrenees, Spain. Th...

A review of the Afrotropical genus Stephanospathius Belokobylskij is provided. A new species Stephanospathius benoitisp. n. from the Republic of Congo, and the male and, for the first time, the female of Stephanospathius ornatipes (Kieffer) are described. A discussion of the status and composition of the tribe Stephaniscini is given and a new name for this tribe, Leptospathiini, nom. n., is pro...

The illustrated descriptions of eight new species of the genus Dinotrema with either the propodeum mainly sculptured or having a large propodeal areola from Spain are provided, viz. Dinotrema amparoae sp. n., Dinotrema benifassaense sp. n., Dinotrema lagunasense sp. n., Dinotrema pilarae sp. n., Dinotrema robertoi sp. n., Dinotrema teresae sp. n., Dinotrema tinencaense sp. n., and Dinotrema tor...

This work analyses the biodiversity of the Aspilota-group (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Alysiinae) in three Mediterranean Natural parks: Natural Park of La Font Roja, Natural Park of Las Lagunas de la Mata-Torrevieja and Natural Park of La Tinença de Benifassà. Samples were carried out from April 2004 to December 2007. In total, 822 specimens, belonging to 52 species, were collected. Alpha, beta an...

Braconid genera Histeromerus Wesmael, 1838 from subfamily Histeromerinae and Ecclitura Kokujev, 1902 from subfamily Euphorinae are recorded in the fauna of Italy for the first time. The discussions about taxonomic position, morphological characters and composition of these genera as well as the redescriptions of the genus and species of Ecclitura primoris Kokujev are given.

The Iranian species belonging to the genus Indiopius Fischer are reviewed. A description of the first recorded female of I. cretensis Fischer, 1966 is provided. A key to the world species of the genus Indiopius is given.

Aphidiinae (Braconidae: Aphidiinae) is a subfamily of endoparasitic wasps specialized in parasitizing aphids. Although, to date, different methods have been used to measure parasitism level, obtaining an accurate estimate remains challenging due to several limiting factors. This study was set to: 1) Compare efficiency of conventional and molecular-based methods in estimating parasitism level of...

The rapid increase in the number of mitochondrial genomes in public databases provides opportunities for insect phylogenetic studies; but it also provides challenges because of gene rearrangements and variable substitution rates among both lineages and sites. Typically, phylogenetic studies use mitochondrial sequence data but exclude other features of the mitochondrial genome from analyses. Her...

This paper is the first to consider braconid parasitoid wasps in conservation efforts in Canada. Out of the 28 genera of the subfamily Microgastrinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) present in the country, 13 genera were studied and 16 species were identified as potential candidates to be included in the Species Candidate Lists of COSEWIC (The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada)...