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

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 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)


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).
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.

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), El Outaya (olive groves) and Tolga (palm groves).

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

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

Distribution in Algeria
Recorded for the first time

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.

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, 2011).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).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

Distribution in Algeria
Recorded for the first time

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

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

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).