Mira Schellenberg 1803

Zuparko, Robert L., 2015, Annotated Checklist of California Encyrtidae (Hymenoptera), Zootaxa 4017 (1), pp. 1-126 : 61-62

Mira Schellenberg 1803 [New state record]

mucora Schellenberg, 1803: 68 [New state record](CSCA, EMEC, RLZC, UCDC, UCRC) Type. Boucek (1977) thought the type might be lost.

Distribution. A (Alameda, Amador, Contra Costa, Marin, Orange, Placer, Riverside, San Benito, San Diego, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Tehama, Yolo)

Host/habitat. Collected from a variety of grasses and shrubs.

Remarks. This appears to be primarily a Palearctic species, but there is also a single previous record from Idaho (Gordh 1979) so it may have a natural holarctic Distribution. However, even though the species is quite distinctive and large enough to be noticed and taken by general collectors, I found no California records of this species prior to 1999. It now occurs in the coastal belt from San Diego north to Sonoma, and can be quite numerous locally, and is winter active as well. Therefore I treat the species as a relatively recent arrival in California, and I suspect it will continue to increase its range through western North America .