~ 87 ~ Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies 2014; 2 (4): 87-92 ISSN 2320-7078 JEZS 2014; 2 (4): 87-92 © 2014 JEZS Received: 04-07-2014 Accepted: 19-07-2014 Nitin Gajbe G.B.Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, India M.A. Khan G.B.Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, India S.M.Dadmal NPIB-ICAR Project Department of Entomology, Dr PDKV, Akola, Maharashtra, India Suvarna Khadakkar NPIB-ICAR Project Department of Entomology, Dr PDKV, Akola, Maharashtra, India Correspondence: Nitin Gajbe G.B.Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, India Email: nitingajbe11@gmail.com Redescription of four species of Eulophid parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae: Tetrastichinae) collected from Uttarakhand Nitin Gajbe, M.A. Khan, S.M.Dadmal and Suvarna Khadakkar Abstract Eulophidae is ecologically and economically most important and largest family of superfamily chalcidoidea consisting of about 350 genera and more than 3,000 species of parasitoids for controlling the crop pests. The present study on subfamily Tetrastichinae ( Eulophidae :Hymenoptera) has been made to provide occurrence and account of two genera viz., Tetrastichus and Aprostocetus which include redescription of 4 species Tetrastichus triozai Khan, Aprostocetus dellus (Narendran), A. Gala (Walker) and A. percaudatus (Silvestri) collected from Uttarakhand (India). Keywords: Aprostocetus, Eulophidae, Tetrastichus, Uttarakhand 1. Introduction Due to lack of the information, Entomologists are still unable to use the beneficial insects to the fullest. To overcome this problem, great attention must be laid on promoting basic studies like identification of various useful insect species. Poor knowledge of species diversity hampers the further research on the species within habitats and their interactions with other organisms. Surveying species diversity is thus a prerequisite for other biological disciplines, for example conservation biology and ecology. Among the parasitic Hymenoptera, wasps in the super family Chalcidoidea are ecologically and economically the most important insects for the control of other insect pest population [1] . The species of Chalcidoidea, were distributed in 20 families and 86 subfamilies and the estimated number of species have ranged between 60,000 and 1, 00,000 [2] . Among these families, the members of Eulophidae are promising agents for the control of insect pests of agricultural importance world over. Eulophidae is large family of the superfamily Chalcidoidea comprising of about 300 genera in the World, among these 150 genera are found in the Indo-Australian region and about 60 genera in the Indian subcontinent [3] .The insect biodiversity of Hymenoptera as compared to world fauna is poorly known and is the lowest among the 27 insects’ orders known from India, and comprises only 5% of the Hymenoptera fauna recorded in India [4] . The Eulophid subfamily Tetrastichinae is one of the largest and most widespread of all parasitic Hymenoptera. Species occur in virtually all terrestrial habitats in all geographic realms, and constitute an important component of terrestrial ecosystems. The first taxonomic work on Tetratsichinae was done by Burks [5] , who provided key to North American species of Tetrastichus. The member of subfamily Tetrastichinae are important parasitoids of number of pests in agriculture and horticulture crop ecosystem such as Tetrastichus pyrillae on sugarcane leafhopper, Tetrastichus schoenobii on eggs of Rice stem borer, Citrostichus phyllocnistoids on leaf miner which is a devastating pest of citrus. Recently [6, 7] made an excellent contribution to the fauna of Indian Tetrastichinae which includes 34 genera and 272 species. Still many species are waiting to be discovered and employed in pest management system. Correct identification and records of their ecological distribution must be made. The lack of proper information on their basic studies and improper identification many times did not give the desired results of major control projects. With a view to furnish more information on basic studies of parasitoids, the present work on taxonomic studies on parasitoids of subfamily Tetrastichinae (Eulophidae: Hymenoptera) has been carried out. 2. Material and methods 2.1 Collection of parasitoids Collection, rearing and preservation work was carried out month