Cales Howard, 1907

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-

Cales Howard (Chalcidoidea: Aphelinidae )

Cales is a relatively poorly known genus whose members, where host relationships are known, are primary parasitoids of aleyrodine whiteflies. Cales are morphologically conserved and character poor making their identification difficult without the use of molecular tools ( Mottern 2012). Abd-Rabou (1997, 2002) reported a Cales sp. from B. tabaci in Beni-Suef, Egypt, citing rare incidence. At least one species, Cales noacki Howard , is globally distributed having been implemented in successful biological control programs for control of woolly whitefly, Aleurothrixus floccosus (Maskell) , a severe pest of Citrus in many countries ( Meyerdirk et al. 1980; Miklasiewicz & Walker 1990; Rose & DeBach 1994). This same species was reared from the B. tabaci complex in Tanzania on cassava ( Manihot esculenta Crantz ) ( Guastella et al. 2014). It is important to note, however, that recent morpho-molecular analyses have identified C. noacki as a cryptic complex composed of at least 9 other species, some of which are indistinguishable morphologically ( Mottern & Heraty 2014).

Mottern (2012) recently revised the Neotropical fauna adding an additional 21 new species. Further information is available from Mottern et al. (2011), Mottern (2012), and Mottern & Heraty (2014). The latter includes a key to male and female species and species complexes.