Scientific name

Tachardiaephagus tachardiae (Howard)

Taxonomic position

Insecta: Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Encyrtidae

Diagnosis

Female: Head and elytra dark metallic green with coppery reflections; mesosoma largely orange-yellow. Antenna yellowish, club brown. Legs yellowish. Antennal formula 1163. Antennal scrobes long, deeply impressed, reaching to at least three quarters distance from toruli to anterior ocellus; inter-torular prominence triangular, dorsally sharply margined and clearly separated from frontovertex.

Male: Similar to female, except antennal flagellomeres dark brown, with whorls of setae.

Head, showing antennal toruli Head, showing antennal scrobes

Images

Female, dorsal view  Adult female, lateral view Adult female, dorsal and lateral view
Adult male, dorsal view Adult male, dorsal view

Distribution

India (Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Orissa, Maharashtra, Uttaranchal). Sri Lanka. Malaysia. Brunei (Hayat, 2006).

Hosts / Biology

A common parasitoid of lac insects and also a hyperparasitoid of chalcids through lac.

Reference

  • Hayat, M. 2006. Indian Encyrtidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea). Department of Zoology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India. viii+496 p.