Considerations on the Brachistini fauna of Turkey (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Brachistinae), with some taxonomic and distributional notes

This study deals with the data on Turkish records of Brachistini that play an important role in the biological control of agricultural pests. Brachistini wasps collected from Mediterranean, Aegean, Central Anatolia, Black Sea and Marmara regions were sampled between 1982-2010. A total of 38 species within five genera (Eubazus, Chelostes, Foersteria, Polydegmon, Schizoprymnus) were determined. When the geographical distributions of determined species were evaluated according to geographic regions in Turkey; Black Sea region appears to have the highest number of species which is 28 and Mediterranean region has the lowest number with six species. As a result of the study, total number of species of Brachistini in Turkey, with the addition of 11 new records, is enlarged from 59 to 70. The study results show us important distributional, faunistical, ecological and zoogeographical results, beside the new species records for Turkish Brachistinae fauna.