The Palaearctic species of Eurytoma (Hymenoptera: Eurytomidae) developing in stone fruits (Rosaceae: Prunoideae)

Abstract

Species of the chalcidoid genus Eurytoma associated with stone fruits are studied for the Palaearctic region. The eight species known to have such an association are: E. amygdali Enderlein, E. maslovskii Nikol'skaya, E. padi Veresh-chagin, E. samsonowi Vasiljev, E. schreineri Schreiner, E. turkestanica sp. n., E. paramygdali sp. n. and E. armenica sp. n. The first six species are phytophagous, developing in the stones, and the last two are entomophytophages, starting their development as parasitoids of a phytophagous species and completing development feeding on plant tissue. Four species, E. amygdali, E. schreineri, E. samsonowi, and E. maslovskii are of economic importance. Information is given on the economic importance, biology, distribution and taxonomy of these species, and includes several new records for hosts and distribution. A key is given to distinguish the species.

First record of Eurytoma schreineri Schreiner (Hym., Eurytomidae) in Greece and some observations on its phenology

“…Using the keys of Z erova and F ursov (1991) we identified the species as Eurytoma schreineri Schreiner. To our knowledge this is the first recorded occurrence of this species in Greece.…”

“…Eurytoma schreineri was first recorded in 1904 from plum trees in the Astrakhan region of south Russia and later from the southern and central regions of the European part of the former USSR. Many subsequent publications referred to this pest under the name Eurytoma amygdali (Z erova and F ursov , 1991 and references therein). N ikolskaya (1961) properly applied the name schreineri and distinguished these two species by morphological and biological characters.…”

“…Wings and legs have been removed to facilitate recognition of the abdominal characteristics. Shaded: sixth and seventh tergites (Redrawn from Z erova and F ursov , 1991 )…”

“…Two other species, namely Eurytoma armenica and Eurytoma paramygdali are associated with wild almonds and are entomophytophagous, i.e. the young larva is parasitic on a phytophagous host but after consuming its host it completes its development by feeding on the plant tissues (Z erova and F ursov , 1991). From the species mentioned above, E. amygdali is common in Greece, causing considerable damage on almonds (M entzelos and A tzemis , 1970; K atsoyannos et al., 1992).…”

Diapause completion in the almond seed wasp, Eurytoma amygdali (Hymenoptera: Eurytomidae) following early low temperature treatment

“…The larva feeds on the embryo, and upon completes its growth, sometime in mid-summer, it enters diapause within the usually intact seed integument. For references on the biology and seasonal development see Zerova & Fursov (1991) and Tzanakakis et al (1991). Plaut (1972) reported that in Israel, diapause terminates in January.…”