Notes on pistachio seed wasps from two locations in the east Mediterranean

Two seed wasps, Eurytoma plotnikovi Nikol’skaya. (Hymenoptera: Eurytomidae) and Megastigmus pistaciae Walker (Hymenoptera: Torymidae), were collected from pistachio nuts, Pistacia vera (Anacardiaceae), in Gaziantep province in Turkey and in El Harub, Judean Hills, Palestinian Authority. E. plotnikovi was clearly identified for the first time in Turkey among the reared materials, but in the past it had been recorded there by several authors under different names. The percentages of fruit infestations by these wasps in untreated pistachio orchards in Gaziantep province and in one orchard in El Harub were 69% and 81%, respectively. Gugolzia karadagae Doğanlar (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) was responsible for 2.2–17.5% parasitism of E. plotnikovi in Gaziantep province. So far, G. karadagae was not found in any other part of Turkey, nor in El Harub or Israel.