New record of Psyllaephagus phylloplectae Sushil &
Khan (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Encyrtidae)
from Karnataka, with notes on its taxonomy and host, Megatrioza hirsuta (Crawford) (Hemiptera:Triozidae)
AnkitaGupta 1, V. Naveenkumar 2 & J. Poorani 3
1,2,3 Project
Directorate of Biological Control, P.B. No. 2491, H.A. Farm Post, Bellary Road,
Bangalore, Karnataka 560024, India
Email: 1 ankitagupta9@rediffmail.com ; 3 pooranij@gmail.com
Date
of publication 26 March 2009
ISSN 0974-7907
(online) | 0974-7893 (print)
Editor: T.C. Narendran
Manuscript
details:
Ms # o1872
Received 13
October 2007
Final revised
received 16 January 2008
Finally accepted
21 February 2008
Citation: Gupta, A., V. Naveenkumar & J. Poorani(2009). New record of Psyllaephagus phylloplectae Sushil &
Khan (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Encyrtidae)
from Karnataka, with notes on its taxonomy and host, Megatrioza hirsuta (Crawford) (Hemiptera:Triozidae). Journal of Threatened Taxa 1(3): 174-176.
Copyright: © Ankita Gupta, V. Naveenkumar& J. Poorani 2009. Creative Commons Attribution
3.0 Unported License. JoTTallows unrestricted use of this article in any medium for non-profit purposes, reproduction
and distribution by providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of
publication.
Acknowledgements:This study was undertaken at Project Directorate of Biological Control,
Bangalore under the Network Project on Insect Biosystematics funded by Indian
Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi.
During
surveys for chalcidoids in southern India, we came
across Psyllaephagus 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), and Beeson (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 waxthreads, 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 Hayat’skey to the Indian species. The members
of the genus are known to be primary or secondary endoparasitoidsof the nymphs of Psyllidae sensu lato (Hemiptera) (Noyes
& Fallahzadeh 2005; Hayat2006), 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.
Diagnosis
of P. phylloplectae (Images 7-8)
Female: (Image 7)
Length: 2.50mm. Head and mesosoma (thorax) brilliant metallic green, shining; metasoma (gaster) medially dark
brown to black, lateral margins of tergites metallic
green; antennae brownish-yellow with scape apically
and basally yellowish, median 3/5th dark brown, F1- F6 brownish-yellow, club
yellowish-brown, with apical two segments darker; legs whitish, fore coxae white, middle coxae basally
dark metallic green, apically and ventrally whitish-yellow, hind coxae dark metallic green, apically narrowly whitish; tegulae yellowish. Antenna with scape flattened and expanded,
2.2x as long as wide, F1-F6 longer than wide, slightly but gradually increasing
in width apically; club 3-segmented, compact, 1.85x longer than wide, blunt at
apex. Mesoscutum wider than long, more or
less uniformly punctate with strong, reticulate
sculpture in interspaces; scutellum longer than wide,
with slightly larger and sparser punctures and reticulate sculpture. Forewing with marginal vein
and postmarginal vein distinctly shorter than stigmal vein. Metasomaelongate triangular, apically pointed.
Male: (Image 8)
Length: 2.10-2.30mm. Resembles female,
but antennae distinctly sexually dimorphic; scapeyellow, cylindrical, with outer and inner margins sinuate, with a T-shaped dark
brown marking apically extending to distal 2/3rd in dorsal inner half; pedicel
yellow, obtriangular, apically slightly
brownish. FI-III yellowish, basally dark
brown, distinctly transverse; FIV-VI narrowly yellow, with basal and lateral
margins brown, longer than broad; club more or less suffused with brown,
shorter than F5 and F6 combined.
Material
studied: 5 females, 1 male (2 females, 1 male
deposited at AMU, Aligarh); Karnataka: Hosakote, ex.
Leaf galls on Terminalia sp., 6.x.06, Kaomud; 5 females, 2 males, Karnataka: Karasawadi,
ex: Megatrioza hirsuta(Crawford) on leaf galls of Terminalia sp.,
12.vii.07, Naveenkumar.
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 ENC- 23, 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 stigmalvein, but in the illustration, the stigmal vein is
clearly much longer. In the specimens we
have examined, the postmarginal vein is distinctly
shorter than stigmal vein.
References
Beeson,
C.F.C. (1941). The Ecology and Control of the Forest Insects of India and
the Neighbouring Countries. Vasant Press, Dehra Dun, 1007pp.
Hayat, M. (2006). Indian Encyrtidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea). Department of Zoology, Aligarh Muslin University, India,
496pp.
Mathur, R.N. (1949). On the immature stages of some Psyllidae. Indian Journal of Entomology 8(2): 231-233.
Mathur, R.N. (1975). Psyllidaeof the Indian Subcontinent. Indian Council of
Agricultural Research, New Delhi, 429pp.
Noyes,
J.S. & M. Fallazadeh (2005). Psyllaephagus zdenekisp. nov. (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) from Iran, a parasitoid of Euphyllura pakistanica (Hemiptera:Psyllidae). Acta Societatis Zoologicae Bohemoslovemocae 69: 203-208.
Sushil, S.N. &
M.A. Khan (1995).Two new species of Psyllaephagus (Hymenoptera:Encyrtidae) from northern India. Journal of Insect
Science 8: 20-23.