Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera) are extremely diverse with more than 23,000 species described and over 500,000 species estimated to exist. This is the first comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of the superfamily based on a molecular analysis of 18S and 28S ribosomal gene regions for 19 families, 72 subfamilies, 343 genera and 649 species. The 56 outgroups are comprised of Ceraphronoidea and most pro...

This paper is aimed to summarize the information available on the parasitoid complex of the European Grapevine Moth (EGVM), Lobesia botrana (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775) (Lepidoptera Tortricidae) in Italy. The list is the result of the consultation of a vast bibliography published in Italy for almost two hundred years, from 1828 to date. This allowed the clarification and correction of misunde...

The guild of stem-infesting insect pests of sunflower, Helianthus annuus L., within the central Plains is a concern to producers chiefly due to losses caused by plant lodging from the sunflower stem weevil, Cylindrocopturus adspersus (LeConte) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), and Dectes texanus texanus LeConte (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). The incidence of a root boring moth, Pelochrista womonana (Ke...

A quantitative catalogue of the parasitoids (almost exclusively Chalcidoidea) and inquiline Cynipidae recorded in the western Palaearctic from galls induced on Quercus by Cynipidae (Cynipini) is presented. Quantitative and national data are included with bibliographic references to almost all records published in 2011 and earlier. The catalogue is followed by two checklists, firstly one of the ...

Large-scale monitoring programmes often make inferences about insect abundance based on count data collected using some probability-based sampling technique. Unfortunately, it is rather difficult to obtain reliable estimates of insect abundance from count data unless the scale is very fine or localized. A major issue, that has to be explicitly addressed when estimating insect abundance, is the ...

We studied the life history, geographic distribution, behavior, and ecology of Larinus filiformis Petri (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in its native range to determine whether it is worthy of further evaluation as a classical biological control agent of yellow starthistle, Centaurea solstitialis (Asteraceae: Cardueae). Larinus filiformis occurs in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Bulgaria and has ...