Book Description

Of the natural enemies used in insect pest control, the parasitic Hymenopterahave been the most successful. Within this group, the Encyrtidaeare one of six families that have been employed in this way. In the past 10 years, two species of encyrtids have been used successfully against two severe pests in agriculture in Africa, the cassava mealybug and the mango mealybug. Among the encyrtids, almost all species of the tribe Anagyrini are primary endoparasitoids of mealybugs and are thus of potential importance in biological control. Within this context, recognition of Oriental anagyrini species should greatly facilitate their future use in biocontrol. In this volume, the 20 genera belonging to the Anagyrini, known to occur in the Oriental region, are defined by means of a dichotomous key and brief generic diagnoses. Biology and use in biocontrol are summarized for every genus and identification keys to the known Oriental species are provided. All species are defined by means of illustrations and brief diagnoses or full morphological descriptions, with 65 species being described as new. The known distribution and host range for every species is also provided, together with an annotated citation list. Two substantial appendices summarize the worldwide use of Encyrtidae in classical biological control and the species recorded as parasitoids of mealybugs.