Encarsia (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) parasitoids of Bemisia species in Taiwan (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae)

Abstract

The whitefly genus Bemisia (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) is represented by five species in Taiwan, including the notorious global pest Bemisia tabaci. A catalogue of Encarsia species attacking these whiteflies, based almost entirely on previously unpublished records, is provided. A key for the identification of the 17 Encarsia species known to parasitize Bemisia species in Taiwan is provided. Three new species, E. guangxingana Shih, Ko and Polaszek sp. nov., E. lineolata Shih, Ko and Polaszek sp. nov. and E. magnalata Shih, Ko and Polaszek sp. nov., are described from Taiwan. These new species were all reared from Bemisia giffardi.

Keywords:

• Aphelinidae
• Bemisia
• Encarsia
• Hymenoptera
• new species
• Taiwan

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to John Noyes (Natural History Museum, London) for access to the Universal Chalcidoidea Database, and for the rapid provision of pdf files of many of the papers cited herein. This paper was greatly improved by the comments and corrections of our colleagues Gavin Broad, David Notton, Paolo Pedata and Stefan Schmidt.