The Diversity of Parasitoids and Their Role in the Control of the Siberian Moth, Dendrolimus sibiricus (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae), a Major Coniferous Pest in Northern Asia.

The Siberian moth, Dendrolimus sibiricus Tschetv., 1908 (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae) is a conifer pest that causes unprecedented forest mortality in Northern Asia, leading to enormous ecological and economic losses. This is the first study summarizing data on the parasitoid diversity and parasitism of this pest over the last 118 years (1905-2022). Based on 860 specimens of freshly reared and archival parasitoids, 16 species from two orders (Hymenoptera and Diptera) were identified morphologically and/or with the use of DNA barcoding. For all of them, data on distribution and hosts and images of parasitoid adults are provided. Among them, the braconid species, Meteorus versicolor (Wesmael, 1835), was documented as a parasitoid of D. sibiricus for the first time. The eastern Palaearctic form, Aleiodes esenbeckii (Hartig, 1838) dendrolimi (Matsumura, 1926), status nov., was resurrected from synonymy as a valid subspecies, and a key for its differentiation from the western Palaearctic subspecies Aleiodes esenbeckii ssp. esenbecki is provided. DNA barcodes of 11 parasitoid species from Siberia, i.e., nine hymenopterans and two dipterans, represented novel records and can be used for accurate molecular genetic identification of species. An exhaustive checklist of parasitoids accounting for 93 species associated with D. sibirisus in northern Asia was compiled. Finally, the literature and original data on parasitism in D. sibiricus populations for the last 83 years (1940-2022) were analysed taking into account the pest population dynamics (i.e., growth, outbreak, decline, and depression phases). A gradual time-lagged increase in egg and pupal parasitism in D. sibiricus populations was detected, with a peak in the pest decline phase. According to long-term observations, the following species are able to cause significant mortality of D. sibiricus in Northern Asia: the hymenopteran egg parasitoids Telenomus tetratomus and Ooencyrtus pinicolus; the larval parasitoids Aleiodes esenbeckii sp. dendrolimi, Cotesia spp., and Glyptapanteles liparidis; and the dipteran pupal parasitoids Masicera sphingivora, Tachina sp., and Blepharipa sp. Their potential should be further explored in order to develop biocontrol programs for this important forest pest.

The isotopic signature of the "arthropod rain" in a temperate forest.

Forest canopy is densely populated by phyto-, sapro-, and microbiphages, as well as predators and parasitoids. Eventually, many of crown inhabitants fall down, forming so-called 'arthropod rain'. Although arthropod rain can be an important food source for litter-dwelling predators and saprophages, its origin and composition remains unexplored. We measured stable isotope composition of the arthropod rain in a temperate mixed forest throughout the growing season. Invertebrates forming arthropod rain were on average depleted in 13C and 15N by 1.6‰ and 2.7‰, respectively, compared to the soil-dwelling animals. This difference can be used to detect the contribution of the arthropod rain to detrital food webs. Low average δ13C and δ15N values of the arthropod rain were primarily driven by the presence of wingless microhytophages, represented mainly by Collembola and Psocoptera, and macrophytophages, mainly aphids, caterpillars, and heteropterans. Winged arthropods were enriched in heavy isotopes relative to wingless specimens, being similar in the isotopic composition to soil-dwelling invertebrates. Moreover, there was no consistent difference in δ13C and δ15N values between saprophages and predators among winged insects, suggesting that winged insects in the arthropod rain represented a random assemblage of specimens originating in different biotopes, and are tightly linked to soil food webs.

Braconid wasps of subfamily Alysiinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) as endoparasitoids of Selachops flavocinctus Wahlberg, 1844 (Diptera: Agromyzidae) in the Central Urals, Russia.

The Agromyzidae fly Selachops flavocinctus Wahlberg, 1844 as host of the Alysiinae genera Asyntactus Marshall, 1898 (Alysiini) and Protochorebus Perepechaenko, 1997 (Dacnusini) is recorded for the first time. A new species from Central Urals, Protochorebus pervushini sp. nov., is described and illustrated. The new material for Asyntactus rhogaleus Marshall, 1898 is studied. A key to Protochorebus species is provided. Description of puparium of Selachops flavocinctus and new data on its life history are published for the first time.

Morphometric analysis and taxonomic revision of Anisopteromalus Ruschka (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Pteromalidae) - an integrative approach.

We use an integrative taxonomic approach to revise the genus Anisopteromalus. In particular, we apply multivariate ratio analysis (MRA), a rather new statistical method based on principal component analysis (PCA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA), to numerous body measurements and combine the data with those from our molecular analysis of Cytb and ITS2 genetic markers (on a subset of species) and all available published data on morphology, karyology, behaviour, host associations and geographic distribution. We demonstrate that the analysis of quantitative characters using MRA plays a major role for the integration of name-bearing types and thus for the association of taxa with names. Six species are recognized, of which two are new: A. cornis Baur sp.n. and A. quinarius Gokhman & Baur sp.n. For Anisopteromalus calandrae (Howard), a well-known, cosmopolitan parasitoid of stored-product pests, we have selected a neotype to foster continuity and stability in the application of this important name. The species was sometimes confused with the related A. quinariussp.n., another cosmopolitan species that is frequently encountered in similar environments. We also show that several species originally described or later put under Anisopteromalus actually belong to different genera: Cyrtoptyx camerunus (Risbec) comb.n.; Meraporus glaber (Szelényi) comb.n.; Dinarmus schwenkei (Roomi, Khan & Khan) comb.n.Neocatolaccus indicus Ayyar & Mani is confirmed as a junior synonym of Oxysychus sphenopterae (Ferrière) syn.n. and Anisopteromalus calandrae brasiliensis (Domenichini) stat.rev. must be considered as a valid but doubtful taxon. This published work has been registered in ZooBank, http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:BDFE96D3-D0F4-4012-90F5-9A087F7F5864.