Aphid parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) in cultivated and non-cultivated areas of Markazi Province, Iran

The fauna of aphid parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae), as well as their diversity and tritrophic (parasitoid-host aphid-host plant) associations in cultivated and non-cultivated areas of Markazi province, was studied during 2004–2009. Thirty species of Aphidiinae belonging to 9 genera were identified. There are presented, in total, 73 associations with 32 host aphids occurring on 42 host plants. Five parasitoid-aphid associations are newly recorded from Iran. Lysiphlebus cardui (Marshall) is newly recorded for the fauna of Iran. Lysiphlebus fabarum (Marshall) and Diaeretiella rapae (M’Intosh) were the most abundant species in non-cultivated (72.96%) and cultivated (41.17%) areas, respectively. In the non-cultivated areas, L. fabarum was found on eight aphid species, while in cultivated areas it was only found on Aphis craccivora Koch. In cultivated areas, Sitobion avenae (F.) has the greatest diversity of parasitoids (Shanon-Weiner H = 0.875) whereas in non-cultivated areas the greatest diversity of parasitoids was recorded upon Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris) (Shanon-Weiner H = 1.149). Significant differences were found between diversity of two ecosystems based on the overall diversity indices. Both species diversity and evenness were greater in cultivated ecosystems. The results are discussed in relation to the over-all parasitoid-aphid-plant associations in the area.