Scientific name

Ooencyrtus pallidipes (Ashmead)

Taxonomic position

Insecta: Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Encyrtidae

Diagnosis

Female: Body dark brown to blackish; head metallic green; mesoscutum dull bluish green; scutellum dull green anteriorly with slightly coppery tinge, shinning metallic green in posterior one quarter; flagellum testaceous- yellow; all legs including coxae yellow. Metasoma completely dark brown to blackish, sometimes with small whitish/yellowish marks on TI laterally. Ovipositor sheaths yellow. Body length 1.15 mm. Antenna filiform, F1-F5 longer than wide, F6 slightly longer than wide. Frontovertex 0.3 × width of head. Mandibles with one tooth and one broad truncation. Scutellum anteriorly punctate-reticulate, posterior one quarter smooth; fore wing with large asetose basal area; linea clava open. Ovipositor very slightly exserted, 1.3 times as long as mid tibia.

Male: 0.95-0.98 mm. Similar to female except flagellum pale yellow, F1 smaller than any individual segment in between F2−F6, all segments longer than wide and covered with setae longer than diameter of individual segment; frontovertex 0.2 × width of the head.

antenna Antenna head  Head
mesos ooency Mesosoma
Mesopleuron  Mesopleuron
wing  Wing

eggs  Parasitized eggs eggs emerging Parasitized eggs with emergence holes

Images

Ooencyrtus Female, Lateral view

Distribution

India (karnataka), western India, southern India, northern India (Himalaya east), southern Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, and Southern China to South East mainland Asia.

Biology

The freshly laid eggs of E. torus are preferred for parasitism by O. pallidipes. It is reported to cause 80–82% parasitism and on an average 2−3 adults emerged per parasitized egg. Earlier it has been recorded from several Lepidoptera, including Eupterotidae, Gracillariidae, Nymphalidae, Papilionidae and Pieridae, but the eggs of Gracillariidae are too small to support this species. A record from egg of a buprestid represents a misidentification. Perhaps there is also an erroneous host record from unspecified aphid, possibly because a mummified aphid is almost similar in size, shape and colour to a parasitized egg of E. thrax (Cock, 2015).

Reference

  • Ashmead WH. 1904. A list of Hymenoptera of the Philippine Islands with descriptions of new species. J New York Ent Soc. 12: 15.
  • CABI. 2015. Invasive species compendium: Data sheet Erionota torus (banana skipper), Available from: http://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/49260(retrieved on 14 July 2016).
  • Cock MJW. 2015. A critical review of the literature on the pest Erionota spp. (Lepidoptera, Hesperiidae): Taxonomy, distribution, food plants, early stages, natural enemies and biological control. CAB Reviews, 10 (007): 1−30. Available from: http://www.cabi.org/cabreviews/review/20153183142.
  • Evans WH. 1941. A revision of the genus Erionota Mabille (Lep.: Hesp.). The Entomologist 74: 158−160.
  • Gupta A. and Sharanabasappa. 2016. First record of Ooencyrtus pallidipes (Ashmead) (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) parasitizing eggs of Erionota torus Evans (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) in India. Journal of Biological Control, 30(4):217-219. DOI: 10.18311/jbc/2016/15536.
  • Huang DW, Noyes JS. 1994. A revision of the Indo-Pacific species of Ooencyrtus (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), parasitoids of the immature stages of economically important insect species (mainly Hemiptera and Lepidoptera). Bull Nat Hist Mus (Ent Ser.) 63: 51.

Credits

Images and factsheet prepared by Dr. Ankita Gupta, Scientist, NBAIR. Web content added by Lavanya, 28-02-2018.