Contribution to the knowledge of Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera) of Biskra, Algeria

Abstract

Contribution to the knowledge of Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera) of Biskra, Algeria

We provide here a list of Chalcidoid wasps collected from the region of Biskra in the south east of Algeria in 2017. The list is comprised of 35 individuals classified into 17 species belonging to eight families. Five genera are reported for the first time from Algeria. Aphelinus asychis Walker, 1839 (Chalcidoidea, Aphelinidae) and Pachyneuron groenlandicum Holmgren, 1872 (Chalcidoidea, Pteromalidae) are new records from Algeria. Biological data and geographical distributions of each species are mentioned.

Data published in GBIF (Doi: 10.15470/jx3ahv)

Key words: Checklist, Chalcidoidea, Distribution, Biskra, Algeria

Resumen

Contribución al conocimiento de los Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera) de Biskra, Argelia

Este trabajo aporta una lista de avispas Chalcidoideas recolectadas en la región de Biskra, en el suroeste de Argelia, en 2017. Consta de un total de 35 individuos clasificados en 17 especies de Chalcidoideos pertenecientes a ocho familias e incluye cinco géneros registrados por primera vez en Argelia. Aphelinus asychis Walker, 1839 (Chalcidoidea, Aphelinidae) y Pachyneuron groenlandicum Holmgren, 1872 (Chalcidoidea, Pteromalidae) son asimismo nuevos registros en Argelia. Se consignan brevemente los datos bilógicos y la distribución geográfica de cada especie.

Datos publicados en GBIF (Doi: 10.15470/jx3ahv)

Palabras clave: Lista de comprobación, Chalcidoidea, Distribución, Biskra, Argelia

Resum

Contribució al coneixement dels Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera) de Biskra, Algèria

Aquest treball aporta una llista de vespes Chalcidoidees recol·lectades a la regió de Biskra, al sud-oest d’Algèria, el 2017. Consta d’un total de 35 individus classificats en 17 espècies de Chalcidoideus pertanyents a vuit famílies i inclou cinc gèneres registrats per primera vegada a Algèria. Aphelinus asychis Walker, 1839 (Chalcidoidea, Aphelinidae) i Pachyneuron groenlandicum Holmgren, 1872 (Chalcidoidea, Pteromalidae) també són nous registres a Algèria. Es consignen breument les dades biològiques i la distribució geogràfica de cada espècie.

Dades publicades a GBIF (Doi: 10.15470/jx3ahv)

Paraules clau: Llista de comprovació, Chalcidoidea, Distribució, Biskra, Algèria

Introduction

Chalcidoidea is one of the largest and most diverse Hymenoptera superfamilies, morphologically and biologically. Currently it is known to contain 22 families, and more than 22,000 described species worldwide (Dale-Skey et al., 2016). Most species of this superfamily are parasitoids and are considered as the most important group in biological control. Several species have been associated with biocontrol programmes in Algeria (Doumandji-Mitiche, 1983; Doumandji-Mitiche and Idder, 1984; Doumandji-Mitiche and Doumandji, 1993; Tsankov et al., 1995; Idder et al., 2009; Rahim et al., 2016; Zamoum et al., 2017).

The Chalcidoidea fauna of Algeria have been little studied, with only a few species of this superfamily mentioned in some fragmentary studies (Bouček, 1956; Hedovist, 1967; Graham, 1969; Baquero and Jordana, 2002; Zhu and Huang, 2002; Japoshvili and Noyes, 2006; Stojanova and Ghahari, 2009; Caleca, 2010; Peters and Baur, 2011; Talebi et al., 2011; Evans and Abd-Rabou, 2013; Madl and Schwarz, 2014; Chehma and Laamari, 2014; Samin, 2015; Laamari and Chaouche, 2016; Lopes et al., 2016; Noyes, 2018).

Biskra is considered the vegetable garden and the main supplier of agricultural produce in Algeria and despite the area’s wide diversity of natural habitats, data concerning this chalcidoid are lacking. The present study provides a list of the species recorded to date with the valid nomenclature, new distribution and host records based on bibliography.

Material and methods

Study area

The study area is located in the Saharan bioclimatic zone, where the winter is temperate and summers are hot and dry (fig. 1). The climatic conditions of the region favour a diversified agricultural practice. Samples were collected from various locations and habitats: Ain Naga (fields producing aromatic and medicinal plants), Ain Naga (Horaya) (vegetable cultivation), Tolga (palm groves), and El Outaya (olive groves).

Fig. 1. Location of the study area: Ain Naga, Ain Naga (Horaya), El Outaya and Tolga in Biskra, Algeria. Fig. 1. Localización del área de estudio: Ain Naga, Ain Naga (Horaya), El Outaya y Tolga en Biskra, Argelia.

Sampling method

This faunistic study was based on samples of Chalcidoids collected between December 2016 and August 2017. Sampling was performed by the main author using yellow pan traps and Malaise traps. The samples were preserved in 70 % ethanol until their transfer to the laboratory. They were identified using available keys and the original descriptions (Graham, 1969; Gibson, 1986; Noyes and Valentine, 1989; Dawah and Rothfritz, 1996; Baquero and Jordana, 1999; Doğanla and Mendel, 2007; Guerrieri and Viggian, 2005; Yefremova et al., 2007; Dzhanokmen, 2009; Gómez et al., 2013; Bayegan et al., 2014; Shirley et al., 2017). The specimens are housed at the collection of the insectarium at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure Agronomique, El Harrach, Alger (ENSA coll. hereafter). Nomenclature is taken from Burks (1979), Ferrière and Delucchi (1957), Triapitsyn and Berezovskiy (2001), Delvare (2005), Japoshvili and Noyes (2006), Zimmermann and Schöller (2008), Dzhanokmen (2009), Dale-Skey et al. (2016), Ghahari and Doğanlar (2017), Shirley et al. (2017), Noyes (2018).

Results

The sampling enabled us to obtain 35 records (dataset published in GBIF as a datapaper, doi:10.15470/jx3ahv). The list of the recorded species is given below in alphabetic order according to family names. Genus and species recorded for the first time for Algeria are marked with an *.

List of species

Family Aphelinidae Thomson, 1876
Subfamily Aphelininae Dalman, 1820

Genus Aphelinus Dalman, 1820

*Aphelinus asychis Walker, 1839 (fig. 2)
Aphelinus affinis (Föster, 1841)

Fig. 2. Aphelinus asychis, male. Fig. 2. Aphelinus asychis, macho.

General distribution
Afro-Tropical: South Africa. Neartic: Canada, USA. Neotropical: Brazil, Chile. Oriental: Nepal, Pakistan. Paleartic: Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Morocco, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom (Shirley et al., 2017).

Distribution in Algeria
The species Aphelinus asychis is reported for the first time in Algeria.

Hosts
This species is reported by Shirley et al. (2017) to parasite: Acyrthosiphon kondoi Shinji, 1938; A. Pisum Harris, 1776; Aphis gossypii Glover, 1877; A. Umbrella Börner, 1950; Brevicoryne brassicae Linnaeus, 1758; Chaetosiphon fragaefolii Cockerell, 1901; Diuraphis noxia Kurdjumov, 1913; Hyperomyzus lactucae Linnaeus, 1758; Myzus persica Sulzer, 1776; Rhopalosiphum maidis Fitch, 1856; Schizaphis graminum Rondani, 1852;
Therioaphis trifolii Monell, 1882; and Toxoptera sp. There are no current host records from Algeria.

Material examined
1♂, Algeria, Biskra, Ain Naga, fields devoted to aromatic and medicinal plants,-2 m, 34° 41′ 4.23″ N, 6° 7’ 27.28″ E, Djouama, 28 II 2017, yellow pan trap, ENSA coll.

Family Encyrtidae Walker, 1837
Subfamily Encyrtinae Walker, 1837

Genus Prochiloneurus Silvestri, 1915

Prochiloneurus aegyptiacus (Mercet, 1929) (fig. 3)
Achrysopophagus aegyptiacus Mercet, 1929

Fig. 3. Prochiloneurus aegyptiacus, female. Fig. 3. Prochiloneurus aegyptiacus, hembra.

General distribution
Afro tropical: Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo. Oriental: India. Palaearctic: Afghanistan, Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Turkmenistan, USSR (former), Yugoslavia (Evans and Abd-Rabou, 2013).

Distribution in Algeria
No available information on the distribution of this species in Algeria.

Hosts
Parasitoid of Anagyrus spp. (Hymenoptera, Encyrtidae) (Hesami and Fallahzadeh, 2004).
Hyperparasitoid of Maconellicoccus hirsutus Green, 1980 (Hemiptera,Pseudococcidae) on Morus alba L.1753 (Moraceae) (Fallahzadeh et al., 2007). This species is also reported as hyperparasitoids associated with Coleoptera (Coccinellidae): Chilocorus bipustulatus L., 1758; Exochomus flavipes Thunberg, 1781; Hyperaspis aestimabilis Mader, 1955; (Hemiptera, Coccidae): Coccus hesperidum L., 1758, Saissetia coffeae Walker, 1852; Pseudococcidae: Ferrisia virgata Cockerell, 1893; Formicococcus njalensis Laing,1929; Maconellicoccus hirsutus Green, 1908; Nipaecoccus viridis Newstead, 1894; Octococcus africanus Brain,1915; Pedrococcus sp., Phenacoccus manihoti Matile-Ferrero, 1977; Phenacoccus sp., Planococcus citri Risso, 1813; P. ficus Signoret, 1875, P. kenyae Le Pelley, 1935, Pseudococcus cryptus Hempel, 1918; Hymenoptera (Encyrtidae): Anagyrus kivuensis Compere, 1939; A. pseudococci Girault, 1915; Clausenia purpurea Ishii, 1923; Epidinocarsis lopezi De Santis, 1964; Gyranusoidea tebygi, Noyes, 1988; Homalotylus flaminius Dalman, 1820; H. quaylei Timberlake, 1919; Leptomastix bifasciata Mercet, 1927; Pteromalidae: Metastenus sp. (Evans and Abd-Rabou, 2013).

Materiel examined
1♀ Algeria, Biskra, Ain Naga, field growing aromatic and medicinal plants, 1 m, 34° 41′ 15,526 “N, 6° 6′ 3,238” E, Djouama, 26 III 2017, yellow pan trap, ENSA coll.

Genus Syrphophagus Ashmead, 1900

Syrphophagus aphidivorus (Mayr, 1876) (fig. 4)
Encyrtus aphidivorus Mayr, 1876

Fig. 4. Syrophophagus aphidivorius, female. Fig. 4. Syrophophagus aphidivorius, hembra.

General distribution
Neartic: Mexico, USA. Neotropical: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mangolia, Puerto Rico, Peru. Oriental: India, Hawaii. Palaearctic: Algeria, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Greece, Germany, Georgia, Holland, Hungary, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Moldovia, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Kingdom, Ukraine, Yugoslavia (Noyes, 2018).

Distribution in Algeria
Region of Biskra (Hemidi et al., 2013).

Hosts
Agromyzidae (Diptera), Leucopis obscura Haliday, 1833 (Diptera, Chamaemyiidae),
Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Homoptera, Aleyrodidae) and species of Homoptera (Aphididae) (Noyes, 2018). In Algeria this species was recorded as a secondary parasitoid of aphids (Aphis gossypii) (Hemidi et al., 2013).

Materiel examined
1♀ ,1♂, Algeria, Biskra, Ain Naga (Horaya), 2m, 34° 41′ 31,734″ N, 6° 6′ 52.269″ E, Djouama, 18 II 2017, yellow pan trap, ENSA coll.

Family Eulophidae Westwood, 1829
Subfamily Entedoninae Förster, 1856

*Genus Ceranisus Walker, 1842

Ceranisus sp. indet. (fig. 5)

Fig. 5. Closterocerus sp. indet., female. Fig. 5. Closterocerus sp. indet., hembra.

General distribution
Afrotropical: Tanzania. Nearctic: Canada, USA. Neotropical: Mexico, Panama, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago. Oriental: India, Nepal, Taiwan, Thailand. Palaearctic: Czechoslovakia, Japan, Spain (Canary Islands), Switzerland, Peoples’ Republic of China (Beijing) (Noyes, 2018).

Distribution in Algeria
Recorded for the first time

Host
Primary hosts: Lepidoptera, Nepticulidae (Stigmella juglandifoliella Clemens, 1861). There are no current host records in Algeria.

Material examined
2♀♀ Algeria, Biskra, Ain Naga (Horaya), 2 m, 34° 41′ 30,646 N, 6° 6′ 52,708″ E, Djouama, 25 V 2017, yellow pan trap, ENSA coll. 1♀ Algeria, Biskra, Ain Naga (Horaya), 2 m, 34° 41′ 30.352” N, 6° 3′ 54.007” E, Djouama, 10 IV 2017, yellow pan trap, ENSA coll.

*Genus Cheiloneurus Westwood, 1833

Cheiloneurus sp. indet. (fig. 6)

Fig. 6. Ceranisus sp. indet., female. Fig. 6. Ceranisus sp. indet., hembra

General distribution
Cosmopolitan species (Noyes, 2018)

Distribution in Algeria
Recorded for the first time

Hosts
Parasitoid of Coleoptera (Chrysomelidae, Coccinelidae); Hemiptera (Aphididae, Asterolecaniidae, Coccidae, Delphacidae, Diaspididae, Eriococcidae, Kermesidae, Psyllidae); Neuroptera (Chrysopidae) (Noyes, 2018). No current host record in Algeria.

Materiel examined
1♀ Algeria, Biskra, Ain Naga, -2 m, 34° 41′ 4.23″ N, 6° 7’ 27.28″ E, Djouama, 26 V 2017, yellow pan trap, ENSA coll. 2♀♀ Algeria, Biskra, Ain Naga, 2 m, 34° 41′ 4.23″ N, 6° 7’ 27.28″ E, Djouama, 10 IV 2017, yellow pan trap, ENSA coll.

Subfamily Eulophinae

Genus Pnigalio Schrank, 1802

Pnigalio mediterraneus Ferrière and Delucchi, 1957 (fig. 7)
Pnigalio agraules Walker, 1839

Fig. 7. Pnigalio mediterraneus, female. Fig. 7. Pnigalio mediterraneus, hembra.

General distribution
Palaearctic: Algeria, Austria, Croatia, Greece, Crete, France, Israel, Italy, Libya, Moldova, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, Yugoslavia (Noyes, 2018).

Distribution in Algeria
Region of Rouiba, Algiers (Doumandji-Mitiche et al., 1999).

Hosts
Pnigalio mediterraneus seems to have a broader host-range (Gebiola et al., 2014). In
Noyes (2018), this species is reported to parasites Coleoptera (Coccinelidae, Curculionidae), Lepidoptera (Gracillaridae, Lyonetiidae, Tischeriidae, Yponomeutidae). The species could be a secondary parasite of Hymenoptera (Braconidae, Eulophidae and Euplemidae). In Algeria P. mediterraneus is reported as a local parasitoid of Phyllocnistis citrella Stainton, 1856 on lemon and orange trees (Doumandji-Mitiche et al., 1999).

Material examined
2♀ Algeria, Biskra, El Outaya, 248 m, 35° 1′ 12,124″ N, 5° 36′ 25.654″ E, Djouama, 01 II 2017, Malaise trap, ENSA coll.

Subfamily Opheliminae Ashmead, 1904

Genus Ophelimus Haliday, 1844

Ophelimus maskelli Ashmead, 1900
Pteroptrix maskelli Ashmead, 1900

General distribution
Palaearctic: Algeria (Caleca, 2010), France (EPPO, 2006), Israel (Mendel et al., 2005), (Kavallieratos et al., 2006), Portugal (Branco et al., 2009), Tunisia (Dhahri et al., 2010), Turkey (Doganlar and Mendel, 2007).

Distribution in Algeria
Béjaïa, Algeria (Caleca, 2010).

Hosts
Plants Eucalyptus globulus, Labill, 1800 and E. gunnii, Hook. f  (Caleca, 2010).

Material examined
2♀♀ Algeria, Biskra, El Outaya, 248 m, 35° 1′ 13.358″ N, 5° 36′ 23.981″ E, Djouama, 23 VI 2017, Djouama, Malaise trap, ENSA coll. 2♀♀ Algeria, Biskra, Tolga (Lichana), 152 m, 34° 43′ 58.738″ N, 5° 26′ 11.823″ E, Djouama, 25 VI 2017, yellow pan trap, ENSA coll.

Family Eurytomidae Walker, 1832
Subfamily Eurytominae Walker, 1832

*Genus Tetramesa Walker, 184

Tetramesa sp. indet. (fig. 8)

Fig. 8. Tetramesa sp. indet., male. Fig. 8. Tetramesa sp. indet., macho.

General distribution
Oriental: India (Odisha). Nearctic: New Mexico, USA (Idaho, Oregon). Palaearctic: Bulgaria, Germany, Japan, Spain (Canary Islands), France, Moldova (Noyes, 2018).

Distribution in Algeria
Recorded for the first time

Hosts
Primary hosts: Diptera, Cecidomyiidae (Orseolia sp.).

Material examined
1♂ Algeria, Biskra, Ain Naga (Horaya), 25 m, 34° 41′ 31.774″ N, 6° 3′ 53.751″ E, Djouama, 28 XII 2016, yellow pan trap, ENSA coll.

Genus Eurytoma Illiger, 1807

*Eurytoma rosae Nees, 1834 (fig. 9)
Eurytoma pubicornis Boheman, 1836

Fig. 9. Eurytoma rosae, male. Fig. 9. Eurytoma rosae, macho.

General distribution
Neotropical: Argentina. Oriental: Malaysia. Palaearctic: Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Peoples’ Republic of China, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, Yugoslavia (former) (Stojanova and Ghahari, 2009)

Distribution in Algeria
Recorded for the first time.

Hosts
This species was reported in Central and south Europe as parsitoid of Cynipidae forming galls in Rosa, Quercus and Acer, also it was reported as parasite of Dacus (Diptera). In Algeria there is no host information.

Material examined
1♂ Algeria, Biskra, Tolga (Lichana), 152 m, 34° 43′ 58.706″ N, 5° 26′ 9.022″ E, Djouama, 15 VII 2017, yellow pan trap, ENSA coll.

Genus Sycophila Walker, 1871

Sycophila sp. indet.

General distribution
Afrotropical: Benin, Gabon, Ivory Coast. Nearctic: USA. Neotropical: Brazil. Oriental: Hawaii, India (Noyes, 2018). Palaearctic: Algeria (Benia and Bounechada, 2013), Bulgaria, France, Japan, Peoples’ Republic of China, Spain, Turkey (Noyes, 2018).

Distribution in Algeria
Sycophila binotata is the only recorded species of the Sycophila genus from Algeria. It was reported from Tafat national forest situated in Djebel Tafat in the department of Bougaa, North West of the of Setif city (Benia and Bounechada, 2013).

Hosts
Sycophila species is as koinobiont endoparasitoids of cynipid gall communities (Claridge 1961 in Gómez et al., 2013). There is no current host information in Algeria.

Material examined
1♀ Algeria, Biskra, Ain Naga, -2m, 34° 41′ 4.23″ N, 6° 7’ 27.28″ E, Djouama, 28 II 2017, yellow pan trap, ENSA coll.

Family Mymaridae Haliday, 1833
Subfamily Alaptinae Perkins, 1912

*Genus Anagrus Haliday, 1833

Anagrus sp. indet. (fig. 10)

Fig. 10. Anagrus sp. indet., male. Fig. 10. Anagrus sp. indet., macho.

General distribution
Afrotropical: Cape Verde Islands, Yemen. Indo-Autralian: New Zealand. Nearctic: Canada, USA. Neotropical: Argentina, Chile. Oriental: Pakistan. Palaearctic: Austria, Belgum, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iran, Israel, Italy, Kyrguzstan, Korea, Macedonia, Moldova, Peoples’ Republic of China, Poland, Serbia, Spain, Sweden. Switzerland,Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Kingdum, Yugoslavia (Noyes, 2018). This species is nearly cosmopolitan (Hilburn et al., 1990).

Distribution in Algeria
Recorded for the first time. This species belongs to the A. atomus species group, identification at species level of individuals belonging to this genus is often difficult due to the paucity of diagnostic characters and morphological variability within species (Triapitsyn et al., 2010). Hosts Natural enemy of Empoasca leafhoppers (Letourneau, 1990). No current host in Algeria.

Material examined
1♂ Algeria, Biskra, Ain Naga (Horaya), 1 m, 34° 41′ 28.056″ N, 6° 3’ 49.332 E, Djouama, 28 I 2017, yellow pan trap, ENSA coll. 1♂ Algeria, Biskra, Ain Naga, -2m, 34° 41′ 4.23″ N, 6° 7’ 27.28″ E, Djouama, 15 II 2017, yellow pan trap, ENSA coll.

Subfamily Mymarinae Haliday, 1833

*Genus Mymar Curtis, 1829

*Mymar taprobanicum Ward, 1875 (fig. 11)
Mymar tyndalli Girault, 1912

Fig. 11. Mymar taprobanicum, female. Fig. 11. Mymar taprobanicum, hembra.

General distribution
Afro tropical: Ivory Coast, Kenya, South Africa. Indo-Australian: Australia, New Zealand. Nearctic: USA; Oriental: India, Sri Lanka, Taiwan. Neotropical: Colombia, Puerto Rico. Palaearctic: Spain, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Japan, Morocco, Romania, Russia, Spain; Madagascar (Noyes, 2018).

Distribution in Algeria
Recorded for the first time

Hosts
This species is reported by Triapitsyn and Berezovskiy (2001) as paraitoids of
Laodelphax striatella Fallén (Delphacidae) and Nilaparvata lugens (Stеl) (Delphacidae) (Chandra, 1980). No current host in Algeria.

Material examined
1♀ Algeria, Biskra, Ain Naga (Horaya), 2 m, 34° 41’27.957″ N, 6° 3′ 52.585 ” E, Djouama, 28 I 2017, yellow pan trap, ENSA coll. 1♀ Algeria, Biskra, Ain Naga, -2 m, 3434° 41’4.54″ N, 6° 7′ 27.825 ” E, Djouama, 02 II 2017, yellow pan trap, ENSA coll.

Family Pteromalidae Dalman, 1820
Subfamily Pteromalinae Dalman, 1820

Genus Pachyneuron Walker, 1833

*Pachyneuron groenlandicum (Holmgren, 1872) (fig. 12)
Pachyneuron umbratum Delucchi, 1955

Fig. 12. Pachyneuron groenlandicum, female. Fig. 12. Pachyneuron groenlandicum, hembra.

General distribution
Distributed in Nearctic: Greenland. Oriental: India (Gupta and Poorani, 2008). Palaearctic: Belgum, Bulgarian Czech Republic, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Netherlands, South Moldovia, Peoples’ Republic of China, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, USSR, Siberia, Yemen (Noyes, 2018).

Distribution in Algeria
Recorded for the first time

Hosts
Known as a primary parasitoid of various insects belonging to families Chloropidae, Psilidae, Syrphidae, Aphididae, Coccidae and Noctuidae, and as hyperparasitoid of Braconidae (Noyes, 2018). Gupta and Poorani (2008) reported this species as parasitoid of the Hemerobiidae Ischiodon sp. on Cassia sp., and Syrphids associated with
Brachycaudus sp. No current host record in Algeria.

Material examined
1♀ Algeria, Biskra, Ain Naga, -2 m, 34° 41′ 4.23″ N, 6° 7’ 27.28″ E, Djouama, 28 III 2017, Malaise trap, ENSA coll. 1♀ Algeria, Biskra, Ain Naga, -2 m, 34° 41′ 4,262″ N, 6° 7’ 27.811″ E, Djouama, 25 IV 2017, Malaise trap, ENSA coll.

Pachyneuron sp. indet. (fig. 13)

Fig. 13. Pachyneuron sp. indet., female. Fig. 13. Pachyneuron sp. indet., hembra.

Material examined
1♀ Algeria, Biskra, Tolga (Lichana), 152 m, 34° 43′ 59.849″ N, 5° 6’ 10.263″ E, Djouama, 16 VII 2017, yellow pan trap, ENSA coll.

Genus Sphegigaster Spinola, 1811

Sphegigaster stepicola Bouček, 1965 (fig. 14)
Acroclisis melanogromyzae, Mani, 1971

Fig. 14. Sphegigaster stepicola, female. Fig. 14. Sphegigaster stepicola, hembra.

General distribution
Oriental: India. Palearctic: Algeria, Austria, Bulgaria, Crotia, Crechoslovakia, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Hngary, Iran, Italy, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Morocco, Peoples’ Republic of China, Romania, Slovakia, Thailan, Trandcaucasus, Romania, Yugoslavia (Federal Republic) (Noyes, 2018).

Distribution in Algeria
This species was found especially in the steppe regions (Andriescu and Mitroiu, 2001).

Hosts
Parasitoids of Diptera Agromyzidae (Noyes, 2018). There are no host records from Algeria.

Material examined
2♀♀ Algeria, Biskra, Ain Naga, -2 m, 34° 41′ 3.722″ N, 6° 7’ 27.342″ E, Djouama, 28 IV 2017, yellow pan trap, ENSA coll.

Family Torymidae Walker, 1833

Subfamily Toryminae Walker, 1833

Genus Podagrion Spinola, 1811

Podagrion pachymerum (Walker, 1833) (fig. 15)
Cleptimorpha binotata Walker, 1872

Fig. 15. Podagrion pachymerum, female. Fig. 15. Podagrion pachymerum, hembra.

General distribution
Oriental: India. Palaearctic: Algeria, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Madeira, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Syria, Ukraine (Lotfalizadeh and Gharali, 2005).

Distribution in Algeria
This species emerged from oothecae found in El Kantara (Biskra) and was common in small, dry watercourses (Oueds) (Williams, 1914)

Hosts
This species is known as a parasite of praying mantid egg cases (Leroy et al., 1936; Breland, 1941), In Algeria this species was reared from Blepharopsis mendica (Fabricius, 1775) (Leroy et al., 1936).

Material examined
4♀♀ Algeria, Biskra, Ain Naga (Horaya), 2 m, 34° 41′ 28.116″ N, 6° 3’ 53.764″ E, Djouama, 01 III 2017, Malaise trap. ENSA coll. 2♀♀ Algeria, Biskra, Ain Naga, -2 m, 34° 41′ 4.02″ N, 6° 7’ 28.695″ E, Djouama, 16 IV 2017, yellow pan trap, ENSA coll.

Family Trichogrammatidae Haliday, 1851
Subfamily Trichogrammatinae Haliday, 1851

Genus Trichogramma Westwood, 1833

Trichogramma embryophagum Westwood, 1833 (fig. 16)

Fig. 16. Trichogramma embryophagum, female. Fig. 16. Trichogramma embryophagum, hembra.

General distribution
Nearctic: USA. Neotropical: Chile, Netherlands. Oriental: India (Jammu And Kashmir), Taiwan, Vietnam. Palaearctic: Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Czech Republic, Czechoslovakia, France (Corsica), Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan (Tselinograd, Kirgizia), Latvia, Moldova, Norway, People’ Republic of China, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Ukraine, Yugoslavia (Noyes, 2018).

Distribution in Algeria
This species was introduced against Ectomyelois ceratoniae Zeller (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae) in a carob tree field (El Alia, Algeris) and in palm grove Ouargla (South Algerian) (Doumandji-Mitiche, 1983); Djurdjura Mountain (Tala-Guilef) (Rahim et al., 2016); Algerian cedar forests, Bordj Bounaama (Ouarsenis), National Tissemsilt, Blida, Tizi Ouzou, Djurdjura (Bouira), Col Telmet (Batna), Ras Keltoum (Khenchela) (Zamoum et al., 2017).

Hosts
Egg parasitoid of the grape berry moth in Iran (Lotfalizadeh et al., 2012). In Algeria this species was recorded as an egg parasitoid of Ectomyelois ceratoniae (Doumandji-Mitiche, 1983) and as an egg parastoid of Thaumetopoea bonjeani Powell, 1922, and T. pityocampa (Denis and Schiffermüller, 1775) by Rahim et al. (2016).

Material examined
1♀ Algeria, Biskra, Ain Naga, -2 m, 34° 41′ 3.938″ N, 6° 7’ 28.415″ E, Djouama, 28 I 2017, yellow pan trap, ENSA coll.

Discussion

This paper reports 17 Chalcidoidea species belonging to eight families collected from Biskra (Algeria). Situated in northwestern Africa on the Mediterranean Sea, Algeria has unique habitats for Chalcidoidea fauna. The species is poorly studied in Algeria, with very few papers dealing with Algerian Chalcidoidea published to date. Five species have been recorded by Hedovist (1967), three species were mentioned by Hemidi et al. ( 2013), five species belonging to the Leucospidae family were reported by Madl and Schwarz (2014); one encyrtid and two pteromalids were reported in by Chehma and Laamari ( 2014), and four species by Laamari and Chaouche, 2016. In the most recent catalogues of the Chalcidoidea species listed for Algeria, compiled by Noyes (2018), only 214 species were mentioned, and some of the new species were not included therein (table 1). As most of these species are of economic relevance, more research on this group is required. We consider that this paper will draw attention to the richness of the diversity and the importance of this superfamily in Algeria, especially in Biskra, and will hopefully lead to the observation and identification of additional samples.

Table 1. List of the new records of Chalcidoid for the region of Biskra (Algeria). Tabla 1. Lista de los nuevos registros de Chalcidoideos de la región de Biskra (Argelia).

Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to Dr. Santiago Bordera, Professor of the Department of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resources, University of Alicante (Spain) for helping to improve this manuscript, Dr. Hossein Lotfalizadeh, Associate Professor of Entomology, Department of Plant Protection East-Azarbaijan Reserch Center for Agriculture and Natural Resources (Iran), Dr. Serguei Triapitsyn, Principal Museum Scientist, Department of Entomology, University of California (USA), Dr. J. Poorani, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, India for help identifying material, and Mounira Benhamacha and the staff at the Zoology Laboratory of the Superior National Veterinary School (Algiers) for their support for this work.

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