A survey of egg parasitoids of the genus Trichogramma (Hymenoptera, Trichogrammatidae) was carried out in olive groves in Portugal,
Greece, Egypt, and Tunisia during the years 2002–2004. Parasitoids were obtained either by exposing sentinel eggs (Sitotroga
cerealella Olivier or Ephestia kuehniella Zeller) on olive trees or by collecting eggs of lepidopterous olive pests. Parasitized egg samples
were reared separately in the laboratory for emergence of parasitoids. These were further reared in separate lines and processed by morphological
and molecular biology techniques for species characterization. The recorded fauna of Trichogramma parasitoids in olive
groves was species poor and consisted of species mainly known from the Mediterranean region. Trichogramma bourarachae Pintureau
and Babault was found in Tunisia and Egypt, T. cordubensis Vargas and Cabello, and T. euproctidis Girault in Egypt, Trichogramma
cacoeciae Marchal in Portugal, Greece, Egypt, Tunisia and Trichogramma nerudai Pintureau and Gerding in Portugal. Apart from that,
Trichogramma oleae Voegele´ and Pointel was collected in Tunisia. This species is probably not indigenous, but has established after several
releases of a French strain were made in recent years. For selected strains, the sequence of the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS-2)
region of rDNA was determined and deposited in the GenBank database. Differences in important biological attributes were found
among collected strains of T. bourarachae, suggesting the existence of biotypes. The results contribute to the limited knowledge on distribution
and biodiversity of the genus Trichogramma in the Mediterranean region. They can be helpful for the preservation and use of
indigenous Trichogramma species in biological control of lepidopterous pests in olive and other local crops.
