Three new species of Allotropa Förster (Platygastridae: Sceliotrachelinae) from India

Abstract

Three new species of Allotropa are described from India. Allotropa gundlupetensis is found to parasitise the Madeira mealybug, Phenacoccus madeirensis, a newly introduced pest of cotton in India.

Keywords:

• Allotropa
• A. gundlupetensis
• A. vanajae
• A. nigra
• Phenacoccus madeirensis

Acknowledgements

We thank Dr B.S. Bhumannavar, Director, NBAII, Bangalore, for providing facilities for carrying out this work. We thank Dr Sunil Joshi for identifying the mealybug and Dr A. N. Shylesha for the specimens of A. gundlupetensis. We also thank Ms B.L. Lakshmi and V. Shashikala for all the help rendered. We also acknowledge literature support by ‘The Platygastroidea Planetary Biodiversity Inventory Project’.