The genus Prorops Waterson, 1923 (Hymenoptera, Bethylidae) from Madagascar

Three species of the genus Prorops Waterson, 1923 occur in Madagascar. Prorops nasuta Waterson, 1923 is recorded for the first time from Madagascar and two new species are described and illustrated: P. sparsa sp. nov. and P. impotens sp. nov., both based on the morphology of males and females. A brief discussion of the status of the genus, illustrations, and a key to Madagascan species of Prorops are provided

Review of Neurepyris Kieffer, 1905 (Hymenoptera, Bethylidae), a new synonym of Pristocera Klug, 1808

The genus Neurepyris Kieffer, 1905 is revised. The adult male holotypes N. rufiventer Kieffer, 1913 from Eritrea and N. tagala (Ashmead, 1905) from the Philippines are redescribed and illustrated. Both species are transferred from the subfamily Epyrinae to Pristocerinae because they have the metanotum well developed medially. Neurepyris rufi venter is transferred to Pristocera Klug, 1808 because the hypopygium is deeply divided into two apical lobes, the subdiscoidal and cubital veins do not reach the border of the forewing, the pronotal disc has the anterior region slightly elevate medially, and the stigma is elongate. Neurepyris tagala is transferred to Apenesia Westwood, 1874 because the basal tooth of mandible is not curved inward, the median lobe of clypeus is not depressed near the antennal insertions, and the aedeagus consists of one lamina. The genus Neurepyris is considered a junior synonym of Pristocera because its type species is N. rufiventer

FIRST RECORD OF DISEPYRIS KIEFFER (HYMENOPTERA: BETHYLIDAE) FROM IRAN

Disepyris Kieffer, a small genus of Bethylidae (Hymenoptera), is recorded for the first time from Iran, represented by D. niveus Lim & Azevedo. Members of this genus can be easily recognized by the protarsi of females with delicate long spines and forewing with short 2r-rs&Rs vein. The diagnostic characters of species are briefly presented according to the newly collected specimens with reference to the respective illustrations

Axima nordestina (Hymenoptera, Eurytomidae), a new stalk-eyed wasp from Brazilian savannah

AbstractA new stalk-eyed wasp Axima nordestina sp. n. is described from the Northeastern Brazilian savannah. Axima nordestina is the fourth species of stalk-eyed wasps (A. noyesi species group) and the second one known from Brazil. The head morphology of A. nordestina appears less derived than in the other known species. An updated key of the A. noyesi species group is provided

Reproductive biology of Sclerodermus brevicornis, a European parasitoid developing on three species of invasive longhorn beetles

The reproductive performance of Sclerodermus brevicornis (Kieffer), a bethylid wasp native to Europe, was evaluated on three species of facticious hosts. These are longhorn beetles which have recently invaded Europe from Asia: Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky), Anoplophora chinensis (Forster) and Psacothea hilaris hilaris (Pascoe) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). Sclerodermus brevicornis attacked all three species, but offspring only developed to maturity on medium and large sized host larvae. Host species influenced the duration of parasitoid development and the number of offspring maturing, both were greatest on A. glabripennis, with up to 373 adult parasitoids emerging from a single host. The sex ratios of S. brevicornis broods were strongly female biased (ca. 9% males). We conclude that S. brevicornis has the potential to be efficiently mass-reared and actively deployed in the biological control of invasive longhorn beetles. Further progress should be encouraged by the successful use of other species of Sclerodermus against beetle pests in China

Selection of lettuce genotypes for protected cultivation: genetic divergence and importance of characters

Os objetivos deste trabalho foram selecionar gen?tipos de alface com potencial para cultivo em ambiente protegido; selecionar gen?tipos divergentes geneticamente para integrar programas de melhoramento; comparar t?cnicas multivariadas a fim de se ter uma interpreta??o mais precisa dos resultados; verificar a relev?ncia dos caracteres avaliados para a diverg?ncia gen?tica; e determinar os caracteres mais importantes na avalia??o de gen?tipos de alface. Utilizou-se o delineamento em blocos casualizados, com 15 gen?tipos, quatro repeti??es e 15 plantas por parcela. O experimento foi conduzido em ambiente protegido e avaliou-se a altura das plantas, di?metro da cabe?a, circunfer?ncia da cabe?a, mat?ria fresca da parte a?rea, mat?ria fresca comercial da parte a?rea, mat?ria fresca da raiz, mat?ria seca comercial da parte a?rea, mat?ria seca da raiz e n?mero de folhas comerciais. Os gen?tipos foram classificados em quatro grupos pelo m?todo Tocher. Foram indicados para uso em cultivo protegido e em programas de melhoramento para obten??o de cultivares adaptadas a essas condi??es, as cultivares 'Regina 500'e 'Vit?ria de S. Ant?o' (grupo I), 'Black Seed Simpson' e 'L?via' (grupo II), 'Branca Boston' (grupo III) e 'Romana Bal?o' (grupo IV). Embora a contribui??o relativa da circunfer?ncia para a diverg?ncia seja apenas 0,50%, todas as caracter?sticas avaliadas foram importantes no estudo da diverg?ncia gen?tica. De acordo com o estudo da correla??o genot?pica, a avalia??o da caracter?stica massa fresca da parte a?rea pode substituir a avalia??o das caracter?sticas massa fresca e massa seca comercial da parte a?rea em um processo de sele??o, reduzindo tempo e custo em um programa de melhoramento.Funda??o de Amparo ? Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG)Empresa de Pesquisa Agropecu?ria de Minas Gerais (EPAMIG)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient?fico e Tecnol?gico (CNPq)Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior (CAPES)The objectives of this study were to select lettuce genotypes with potential for cultivation in protected environments; select genetically divergent genotypes to integrate breeding programs; compare multivariate analysis to have a more precise interpretation of the results; verify the relevance of evaluated traits to genetic divergence; and determine the most important characters in the evaluation of lettuce genotypes. Fifteen genotypes were studied in a randomized block design with four replications and 15 plants per plot. The experiment was carried out in protected environments and the following traits were evaluated: plant height, head diameter; head circumference; fresh matter of heads; marketable fresh matter of heads; root fresh matter; dry matter of commercial heads; dry matter of roots and number of commercial leaves. The genotypes were classified in four groups by Tocher's method. The genotypes that should preferably be used in protected environment and in breeding programs were 'Regina 500' and 'Vit?ria de S. Ant?o', from group I; 'Black Seed Simpson' and 'L?via' from group II; 'Branca Boston' from group III and 'Romana Bal?o' from group IV. Although the relative contribution of the head circumference is only 0.50%, all traits were important in the study of genetic diversity. According to the genotypic correlation study, the assessment of the fresh mass characteristic of the aerial part can substitute the evaluation of commercial fresh and dry mass of the aerial part in the selection process, reducing the time and cost in a breeding program