Psyllaephagus Ashmead

Singh, Sudhir & Singh, Karan Pal, 2011, Description of two new species of Psyllaephagus Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) parasitizing Phacopteron lentiginosum Buckton (Hemiptera: Psyllidae), a leaf gall-former of Garuga pinnata Roxburgh (Burseraceae), Zootaxa 2885, pp. 33-43 : 34

Psyllaephagus Ashmead

Psyllaephagus Ashmead, 1900: 382 . Type-species: Encyrtus pachypsyllae Howard , by original designation.

Diagnosis. Body generally bright metallic green to dark greenish blue; legs generally pale, except some coxae and sometimes some areas of femora and tibiae darker; wings hyaline; forewing marginal vein punctiform; mandibles with one or two teeth and a broad truncation; hypopygium not extending more than two-thirds length of metasoma. Primary parasitoids of psyllids.

Remarks. Generic synonymy was dealt with in detail by ( Noyes & Hayat 1984; Hayat 2006). The genus is classified in Encyrtinae , tribe Trechnitini Hoffer and subtribe Metaprionomitina Hoffer.

India is bestowed with a rich Psyllaephagus diversity in various climatic zones, but it is very scantly investigated and thorough survey work in the rich areas of the Northeast and the Western Ghats may result in many new species. Presently only the following ten species, excluding the two newly described here, are known — Psyllaephagus africanus Prinsloo, P. a i z a w l e n s i s Singh, P. aligarhensis Shafee, Alam & Agarwal , P. bengalensis Hayat , P. macrohomotomae Singh & Agarwal , P. mesohomotomae Singh & Agarwal , P. mycopsyllus Singh , P. phylloplectrae Sushil & Khan , P. solanensis Sushil & Khan , and P. tekeddyensis Singh & Agarwal. Some important references on the genus from India are those of Shafee et al. (1975), Singh & Agarwal (1993), Sushil & Khan (1995), Singh (1996) and Hayat (2003 & 2006).

Singh (1996) arranged the Indian species of Psyllaephagus in two informal groups. Species in “Group A” are characterized by a large body size (female length 1.5–3.9 mm, male length 1.3–2.8 mm); female metasoma longer than mesosoma with last tergite long and V-shaped, hence metasoma appearing pointed; outer plate of ovipositor without notch; male antenna with shape of scape and flattened flagellum variable, but setae on flagellum short, less than half width of respective funicle segment. Species in “Group B” are generally smaller (female length 1.2–2.5 mm, male length 0.8–1.8 mm); female metasoma at most equal in length to mesosoma and with last tergite crescent shaped, hence apex of metasoma appearing blunt and rounded; outer plate of ovipositor with a deep notch at the outer distal margin; male with antennal scape normal and funicle segments cylindrical with long wavy setae longer than width of respective funicle segment ( Singh 1996).