Encarsia Förster

Lahey, Zachary & Stansly, Philip, 2015, An updated list of parasitoid Hymenoptera reared from the Bemisia tabaci species complex (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), Florida Entomologist 98 (2), pp. 456-456 : 456-

Encarsia Förster (Chalcidoidea: Aphelinidae )

Encarsia is the most speciose genus of Aphelinidae with more than 450 described species which mainly parasitize either whiteflies ( Aleyrodidae ) or armored scale insects ( Diaspididae ). The number of species recorded from the B. tabaci species complex has greatly increased over recent years from the 35 listed in Gerling et al. (2001), to 55 in Arnó et al. (2010) to 81 here. Minus a few exceptional cases, female Encarsia are primary endoparasitoids whereas males develop as ectophagous hyperparasitoids on conspecific or heterospecific individuals including those of other genera ( Walter 1983; Hunter & Woolley 2001). The host-associations of females appear to be obligate insomuch as they are restricted to a particular host family (e.g., Aleyrodidae ; Diaspididae ; Hor- maphididae) ( Polaszek et al. 2009). Conversely, although male Encarsia are usually reared from the same host(s) as the females, they have also been obtained from alternative hosts, including sof scales ( Coccidae ) ( Myartseva & Evans 2007), psyllid nymphs ( Liviidae ; Triozidae ) ( Polaszek et al. 1992; Butler & Trumble 2011), and the eggs of Lepidoptera ( Polaszek 1991) and Cicadellidae ( Hemiptera : Auchenorrhyncha) ( Polaszek & Luf Albarracin 2011). The reports of the armored scale parasitoids Encarsia aspidioticola (Mercet) and Encarsia lounsburyi (Berlese & Paoli) from B. tabaci should be treated with caution ( Greathead & Bennett 1981; Li et al. 2011), especially in regard to En. lounsburyi , where males are unknown.

Identification aids to Encarsia species are available for the following localities: Australia ( Schmidt & Polaszek 2007), China ( Huang & Polaszek 1998), Egypt ( Polaszek et al. 1999), Hispaniola ( Evans & Serra 2002), Italy ( Viggiani 1987), India ( Hayat 2011), Mexico ( Myartseva & Evans 2007), North America ( Schauff et al. 1996), and Taiwan ( Shih et al. 2008). Polaszek et al. (1992) and Evans & Polaszek (1997) treated the species parasitizing the B. tabaci species complex. Heraty et al. (2008) recently discussed the systematics and biology of Encarsia with an emphasis on those attacking Bemisia species.