Scientific name

Cephaleta brunniventris Motschulsky, 1859

Taxonomic position

Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Pteromalidae: Eunotinae

Diagnosis

Female: Body with head and mesosoma shiny black while abdomen yellowish brown with darker apex. Antenna yellowish brown except pedicel and apical segment of clava darker brown. Legs yellowish brown except black coxae, tarsi dark brown, first pair of legs slightly darker brown. Head much wider than mesosoma, vertex sharply angulate behind ocelli, posterior ocellus touching hind margin of vertex. Antennal formula 11143. Scrobe slightly concave and only base of scape encased in scrobe. Mesosoma shiny with punctations. Notauli complete. Scutellum with silvery white hairs in apical third. Fore wing pilose.

Male: Antenna 9 segmented, all funicular segments longer than wide, F1 curved and longer than scape.

 Female - antenna
 Female - forewing

Images

   Female adult - dorsal & profile view

Distribution

India: Assam, Manipur, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Pondicherry, Goa, Kerala, Daman & Diu, Karnataka, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh and Delhi.

Biology / Hosts

Primary hosts are from Coccoidea mainly Coccidae, Cerococcidae, and Pseudococcidae- Ceroplastes spp., Saissetia spp., Ferrisia virgata and many others also Asterolecanium sp. (Asterolecaniidae). For entire host range see Universal Chalcidoidea Database.

References

  • Boucek, Z.; Subba Rao, B.R. & Farooqi, S.I. 1979. A preliminary review of Pteromalidae (Hymenoptera) of India and adjacent countries. Oriental Insects 12(4): 433-467.
  • Motschulsky, V.de 1859. Inesctes utiles et nuisibles. Études Entomologiques 8: 174.
  • Narendran, T.C. & Mini, T.V. 2000. A review of the genera of Oriental Eunotinae (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae). Journal of the Zoological Society of Kerala, 8&9: 15-28.
  • Noyes, J.S. 2012. Universal Chalcidoidea Database. World Wide Web electronic publication. http://www.nhm.ac.uk/chalcidoids.
  • Sureshan, P.M. 2012. Checklist of Pteromalidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) of India. ZSI, Western Ghats regional centre, Kozhikode, Kerala. 15pp.
  • Xiao, H. & Huang, D.W. 2001. A review of Eunotinae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Pteromalidae) from China. Journal of Natural History, 35: 1587-1605.