Hymenoptera Chalcidoidea inhabiting galls of Cynipidae in Jordan

Abstract

Twenty-three species of Chalcidoidea (5 Eurytomidae, 4 Torymidae, 2 Ormyridae, 5 Pteromalidae and 7 Eulophidae) are recorded as regular members of the parasitoid fauna inhabiting galls of Cynipidae in Jordan. The occurrence of three additional species, probably only facultatively associated with cynipid galls, is noted. Twenty-two out of the total 26 species were previously unrecorded in the country, while 13 of them are also new for the entire Middle East. Eighteen new host records were detected, together with 24 new plant-parasitoid associations. The biology of each species is briefly commented upon, as well as the presence of a host-related colour variation in some species. © Entomologica Fennica.