Annotated Checklist of California Encyrtidae (Hymenoptera)
Author
Zuparko, Robert L.
text
Zootaxa
2015
4017
1
1
126
journal article
39938
10.11646/zootaxa.4017.1.1
086efdb4-44cf-4c0b-a796-1eb81f2cdd24
1175-5326
245475
BBFC3D93-6A7E-4862-84EF-021ADE2F4B3A
Hexacnemus
Timberlake 1926
Hosts.
Neuroptera
:
Hemerobiidae
armitagei
Timberlake 1926
: 15
Type
.
USNM
Distribution.
N (Lake, Ventura)
Host/habitat.
Sympherobius californicus
,
S
. sp.
Remarks.
Gordh (1979) noted that
H
.
armitagei
has also been reported to parasitize mealybugs on citrus, probably based on a specimen from Florida (USNM) that has “Mealybug, citrus” on the collecting label.
Sympherobius
is predacious on mealybugs, and I suspect this is a mistaken host record, and the true host was an unrecognized hemerobiid.
Noyes (2001)
reported that a record of the genus from South
America
(where it putatively attacked
Aleurothrixus floccosus
and
Planococcus citri
) was in error. In fact,
Parker
et al.
(1953)
reported an Argentinean
Hexacnemus
sp. “ex material” of these two species, noting that the parasites were reared “in grosso modo” from lots of material, and that the precise role of the parasite is not available. I have seen a male specimen (USNM) of this parasitoid from
Argentina
, and it is definitely a
Hexacnemus
species, although I am unable to determine if it is conspecific with
H
.
armitagei
. Additionally, the USNM has a female and male
Hexacnemus
sp., reared in association with nymphs of
Phenacoccus gossypii
, apparently from
Columbia
(CIAT- Palmira), that appear to represent an undescribed species of this genus.