New record of Psyllaephagus phylloplectae Sushil & Khan ( Hymenoptera : Chalcidoidea : Encyrtidae ) from Karnataka , with notes on its taxonomy and host , Megatrioza hirsuta ( Crawford ) ( Hemiptera : Triozidae )

Psyllaephagus phylloplectae Sushil & Khan (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Encyrtidae) is reported for the first time from Karnataka on Megatrioza hirsuta (Crawford) (Hemiptera: Triozidae), which forms galls on Terminalia spp. The parasitoid is briefly described, with notes on its taxonomy and its host.

During surveys for chalcidoids in southern India, we came across Psyllae phagus phylloplectae Sushil & Khan (1995) parasitizing Megatrioza hirsuta (Crawford) (=Trioza hirsuta, Phylloplecta hirsuta) (Hemiptera: Psylloidea: Triozidae) causing leaf galls on Terminalia spp. in Karnataka.Brief diagnostic and biological notes are provided for the parasitoid and its host in this Note.The specimens we studied are permanently preserved in the reference collections of the Project Directorate of Biological Control, Bangalore.

Symptoms of damage by Megatrioza hirsuta and its diagnostic features
Megatrioza hirsuta is a major pest of Terminalia spp.Mathur (1949), andBeeson (1941) provided detailed accounts of the immature stages and the nature of damage caused.The nymphs of M. hirsuta cause distortion and folding of the leaves.One or both margins of the leaves are rolled into the midrib on the upper surface (Image 1) and the rolled margins gradually become thickened and hard like a gall and turn pink or mauve; sometimes the whole leaf becomes folded and thickened (Image 2).The size and position of the galls vary, and occasionally the leaves are spirally distorted.Several nymphs remain sheltered in these rolled leaves and are often covered with copious secretions of white wax (Images 3-4).Large round drops of liquid excrement, with their surface coated with white wax and fragments of wax threads, are also present inside the rolled leaves (Image 5).The adults (Image 6) are light brown and covered with hairs, with darker brown markings on dorsulum, long antenna with segments apically black, and hyaline, transparent wings with a prominent, large triangular marking near tip of clavus.The adults are described in detail and illustrated by Mathur (1975).

Psyllaephagus phylloplectae Sushil & Khan
The genus Psyllaephagus Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Encyrtidae) is represented by 11 species in India (Hayat 2006), with one indeterminate species included in Hayats key to the Indian species.The members of the genus are known to be primary or secondary endoparasitoids of the nymphs of Psyllidae sensu lato (Hemiptera) (Noyes & Fallahzadeh 2005;Hayat 2006), with the sole exception of P. solanensis Sushil and Khan (1995), which was described as a parasitoid of indeterminate coccids on olive.
Karnataka is a new distribution record for the parasitoid, P. phylloplectae, which is presently known only from Uttaranchal (Sushil & Khan 1995), on the same host.We provide a brief diagnostic account with notes on its morphology with photographs of the adult female and male.
The specimens sent to Dr. Mohammad Hayat, Aligarh Muslim University, were retained by him for his personal collection and registration numbers were not given for these by us.The specimens we studied are permanently preserved in the reference collections of the Project Directorate of Biological Control, Bangalore, as mentioned in the MS with registration number as follows: PDBC AN ENC-20, 21 and 22, for the threefemales with date of collection as 6.x.06.For five females with collection date 12.vii.07,the numbers are PDBC AN 24,25,26 & 27 and for two males -PDBC AN ENC-28 and 29 respectively.

Discussion
This species agrees with the description provided by Sushil & Khan (1995) for P. phylloplectae except for the following variations: in female, pedicel not more than twice longer than wide; fore coxae completely yellowish-white, mid coxae basally dark metallic green, apically and ventrally whitish; hind coxae dark metallic green with only apices narrowly whitish.Hayat (2006), in his key to the females of Indian Psyllaephagus, indicated that the colour of the legs, including the coxae, was pale yellow to white, based on the original description (Sushil & Khan 1995).
In the original description, the postmarginal vein on the fore wing is described as approximately the same size as that of stigmal vein, but in the illustration, the stigmal vein is clearly much longer.In the specimens we have examined, the