EGG PARASITISM IN APHELINIDAE (HYMENOPTERA, CHALCIDOIDEA) WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO CENTRODORA AND ENCARSIA SPECIES

Aphelinidae are all insect parasitoids, and most species are associated with nymphal stages of Homoptera: Sternorrhyncha, either as primary parasitoids or hyperparasitoids. The occurrence of egg parasitism in aphelinids has been recorded in eight of the 38 valid genera and these records are reviewed; it is particularly common in the genus Centrodora, which is shown to be the most polyphagous in the family. One species, C. darwini (Girault), is given special attention because of its occurrence in three recent surveys for biological control agents of crop pests. It is briefly redescribed, diagnosed, and shown to be the most polyphagous aphelinid known. A checklist of Australian Centrodora spp. is given, including the new combination Centrodora grotiusi (Girault) comb. n. The purported evidence for the classification of certain Encarsia spp. associated with eggs of Lepidoptera as 'heterotrophic parasitoids' is re-examined and dismissed.