Systematics and biology of sp. n. (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae), a potential biological control agent against the noctuid Mediterranean corn borer, .

Many parasitoid species are subjected to strong selective pressures from their host, and their adaptive response may result in the formation of genetically differentiated populations, called host races. When environmental factors and reproduction traits prevent gene flow, host races become distinct species. Such a process has recently been documented within the species complex, all of which are larval parasitoids of moth species whose larvae are stem borers of Poales.