Comperia Gomes 1942

Zuparko, Robert L., 2015, Annotated Checklist of California Encyrtidae (Hymenoptera), Zootaxa 4017 (1), pp. 1-126 : 22

Comperia Gomes 1942

Hosts. Blattodea : Blattellidae

merceti ( Compere 1938: 317) (Dicarnosis)

Type. BMNH

Distribution. E (Alameda, Contra Costa, Riverside, Sacramento, San Diego, Stanislaus, Yolo)

Host/habitat. Supella longipalpa , Supella supellectilium

Remarks. This appears to be a tropical species that has become adventitiously established around the world. This species was imported into California using Hawaiian stock in a biocontrol programs against cockroaches in the late 1970s and was reported established ( Slater et al. 1981). However, there is a single specimen from Contra Costa County (EMEC) collected in 1957, indicating the species was probably already present in the state. Gomes (1942) reported Blattella germanica as a host, but Roth and Willis (1960) noted that this was not based on rearing records. Lawson (1954) reported that C. merceti was unable to attack Blatta orientalis and Periplaneta americana ootheca, but a single specimen (UCRC) was reportedly reared from a Periplaneta sp.