New records of Scelio species (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) from Iraq: egg parasitoids of acridid grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acrididae)

Abstract

Abstract During insect surveys in June 2019 using yellow pan traps and sweep nets in agricultural areas of the Al Husayniya district of Karbala Governorate, three species of the economically important parasitoid genus Scelio were identified. Scelio howardi Crawford, S. striatus Priesner and S. variegatus Kozlov and Kononova all represent new records in Iraq. The current known distributions and host records of these three species are summarised, and their diagnostic features are illustrated. Previously unpublished host records are presented for S. striatus .