New parasitoid (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea) records of bark beetles (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Scolytinae) in pine plantations in Bulgaria

Abstract

In 2020 and 2021, chalcidoid parasitoids (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea) of bark beetles in pine (Pinus spp.) plantations were studied in Bulgaria. Samples (cuttings of stems and branches) of pine trees infested by bark beetles were collected from seven plantations of Pinus sylvestris and P. nigra in Bulgaria. From each sampling plot, five cuttings were collected and placed in photoeclectors in laboratory conditions (18-22ºC). Emerged bark beetles and parasitoids were regularly gathered and fixed in ethanol. Six parasitoid species - Dinotiscus colon, Metacolus azureus, M. unifasciatus, Rhopalicus quadratus, R. tutela (Chalcidoidea: Pteromalidae) and Heydenia pretiosa (Chalcidoidea, Heydeniidae) were reared from five bark beetle hosts (Ips acuminatus, Pityogenes bistridentatus, Pityophthorus pityographus, Tomicus piniperda and T. minor). Amongst them, three species (H. pretiosa, M. azureus and R. quadratus) are recorded as new for Bulgarian fauna.