Taxonomy of the genus Anagrus Haliday (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae) of the world:

an annotated key to the described species, discussion of the remaining problems, and a checklist

Abstract

The described species of Anagrus Haliday of the world are reviewed. An identification key for females of the 82 valid species is provided, and other nine nominal, valid species are treated as nomina dubia . A short, coded redescription is given for all the species included in the key; information or updates on the known host associations and geo- graphical distribution are also provided. The following new synonymies are proposed: A. pros- cassellatii Viggiani & Jesu syn. nov. and A. spiritus Girault syn. nov. = A. atomus (Linnaeus); A. capensis Heqvist syn. nov. = A. fennicus Soyka; A. dilatatus Soyka syn. nov., A. holci I. Walker syn. nov., A. longus Soyka syn. nov., A. obvius Soyka syn. nov. and A. similis Soyka syn. nov. = A. nigriceps (Smits van Burgst); A. prounilinearis Viggiani & Jesu syn. nov. = A. optabilis (Perkins); and A. supremosimilis Soyka syn. nov. = A. subfuscus Foerster. An updat- ed checklist of Anagrus species is presented, and some of the remaining taxonomic problems to be solved in the genus are discussed. As egg parasitoids, some members of Anagrus are important for biological control of agricultural pests, particularly of leafhoppers and plantho- ppers (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae and Delphacidae).