Promuscidea unfasciativentris Girault

Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Eriaporidae

Female: Length 0.65-1.50 mm. Body dark brown to nearly black, faintly shiny, with a creamy white / pale yellowish band across the first abdominal tergite, usually medially interrupted or broken by a dark, longitudinal band; apex of last abdominal tergite pale; frons and face yellow to testaceous; antennal scape yellow brown, dorsal margin of scape, pedicel and flagellum brown; wings hyaline, often lightly infuscate behind stigmal vein; coxae and femora except apices, dark brown to black, femoral apices and all tibiae yellow or indistinctly infuscate brownish yellow or tibiae pale yellowish brown with pale ends. Head finely reticulate. Antenna (Fig. 1) 9-segmented, with 4-segmented funicle and 3-segmented club. Mesosoma (thorax) (Fig. 3) with raised, reticulate sculpture. Head and thorax with dark brown, prominent setae; smaller setae on flagellar segments brown, longer setae pale. Fore wing (Fig. 2) broad, marginal vein shorter than costal cell, stigmal vein long; postmarginal vein long, parastigma well-developed, with a process and two long bristles; submarginal vein with 5-6 setae; a long seta present at the junction of parastigma and submarginal vein. Ovipositor not exserted. Tarsi five-segmented on all pairs of legs.

 Fig. 1. Female antenna
 Fig. 2. Fore wing venation
 Fig. 3. Thorax
  Fig. 4. Abdomen with white transverse band on first tergite

Male: Similar to female except for antenna with F1 always shorter than F2, club two-segmented. Abdomen with sternite 2 enlarged.

This is a very common, but variable species, particularly in the relative dimensions of antennal segments, depending on the size of the specimens. Hayat (1998) provided a detailed description with illustrations and measurements.

         Adult, dorsal view
     Adult, lateral view

Widely distributed throughout India (Andhra Pradesh; Assam; Bihar; Delhi; Jammu & Kashmir; Karnataka; Kerala; Madhya Pradesh; Orissa; Punjab; Tamil Nadu; Uttar Pradesh; West Bengal; Andaman & Nicobar Islands). China. Indonesia (Hayat, 1998).

Parasitic on several species of mealybugs (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) and also hyperparasitic on other parasitoids such as Anagyrus spp., Aenasius advena, Microterys sp., Comperiella bifasciata (all Encyrtidae), and Cephaleta brunniventris (Pteromalidae) (Hayat, 1998).