J. HYM. RES. Vol. 19(2), 2010, pp. 228-243 Revision of the European, North-African and Central Asian species of the genus Norbanus Walker 1843 (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) Maria Concetta Rizzo and Mircea-Dan Mitroiu (MCR) Senfimizo Department, Entomology, Acarology and Zoology Section, University of Palermo, viale delle Scienze, 13, 1-90128, Palermo, Italy;
[email protected] (MDM) Faculty of Biology, Alexandru loan Cuza University, Bd. Carol I 20A, 700505, Iasi, Romania;
[email protected] Abstract. — The European, North-African and Central Asian species of the genus Norbanus Walker are revised, providing an illustrated key to males and females of all the species. Three new synonymies are proposed: Norbanus globulariae (Szelenyi 1941) = Norbanus giordanii (Ferriere 1952), n. syn.; Norbanus meridionalis (Masi 1922) = Norbanus mordellidarum Dzhanokmen 1999, n. syn.; Norbanus obscurus (Masi 1922) = Norbanus erdoesi (Szelenyi 1974), n. syn. Both sexes of N. guyoni are redescribed, and its type locality clarified. A new host record together with distributional data are given for nine out of ten valid species. The genus Norbanus Walker 1843 (Pter-omalidae: Pteromalinae) consists of 38 species distributed all over the world, 13 of which have been described from the West and Central Palaearctic (Noyes 2003), and includes some of the largest Ptero-malinae species (Dzhanokmen 1999). So far, the species of Norbanus are mainly known as parasitoids of Cephidae (Hyme-noptera), Curculionidae (Coleoptera) and occasionally Lepidoptera (Boucek and Ras-plus 1991, Dzhanokmen 1999, Noyes 2003), but very 7 little is known about the biology of most of the species and for many of them the host is unknown. Norbanus scabriculus (Nees 1834), was released in Canada for biological control of Cephus pygmeus (L.), a pest of wheat (Boucek and Rasplus 1991). Already Graham (1969), in his review of the West Palearctic species of Pteromali-nae, stated that the European species of the genus needed revision. With Arthrolysis Forster 1856 and Picroscytus Thomson 1878 placed in synonymy with Norbanus by Peck (in Muesebeck et al. 1951), Graham (1969) lists in his work 5 species of Norbanus: N. scabriculus, N. meridionalis (Masi 1922), N. giordanii (Ferriere 1952), N. globulariae Sze-lenyi (1941), and N. albicrus (Masi 1934). The latter was later placed in synonymy with Cyrtoptyx latipes (Rondani 1874) (Pter-omalidae) by Boucek (1974). However, Graham (1969) gives a key to females of only two Norbanus species, feeling uncer-tain as to the validity of the other species. Five more Norbanus species were listed by the same author as Picroscytoides Masi 1922 (which was later placed in synonymy with Norbanus by Boucek (1990)): N. cer-asiops (Masi 1922), N. obscurus (Masi 1922) and three unidentified species. He omitted N. guyoni (Giraud 1869), mentioned by Szelenyi (1941) as Arthrolysis guyoni, and N. calabrus (Masi 1942), which Masi de-scribed as Picroscytus calabrus. Later, Boucek (1969) described N. laevis and N. albiventris (as Picroscytoides), the latter being placed in synonymy with N. calabrus by Boucek (1990). Szelenyi (1974) described N. brevicornis and N. erdoesi (the latter as Picroscytoides), and Boucek (1970) N. tenuicornis. Then, Dzhanokmen (1999) in her review of the Kazakhstan species of Norbanus, separated two subgenera, Norbanus and
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