Anagyrus indicus Subba Rao

(Formerly known as Anagyrus agraensis Shafee, Alam & Agarwal).

Distribution: South-East Asia, Saudi Arabia, Middle East.

Morphology: Female 1.0-1.5 mm in length, body mostly yellow to dark-yellow, forewings hyaline, with only a single anterior (costal) vein.

Hosts: Various Pseudococcidae, including Ferrisia virgata and Nipaecoccus viridis.

Life history: The parasitoid prefers adult host females, and then 3rd-instar nymphs. Younger N. viridis are rarely attacked.

Economic Importance: A major, efficient natural enemy of N. viridis in East Asia, where it may almost totally control the pest. Anagyrus indicus was successfully introduced into Jordan where, it became established and greatly reduced the populations of N. viridis. The controlling effect of A. indicus can be seriously disrupted by the presence of ants.

References

Bhuiya, B.A., Chowdhury, S.H. and Kabir, S.M.H. 1997. An annotated list of chalcidoid parasitoids (Hymenoptera) of Coccoidea (Homoptera) on guava in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Journal of Zoology 25: 55-56.

Gross, S., Blumberg, D., Drishpon, Y. and Mendel, Z. 2001. The spherical mealybug, Nipaecoccus viridis: new data on its distribution, damage, natural enemies and control. Phytoparasitica 29: 62.

Meyerdrik, D.E., Khasimuddin, S. Bashir, M. 1988. Importation, colonization and establishment of Anagyrus indicus (Hym. : Encyrtidae) on Nipaecoccus viridis (Hom., Pseudococcidae) in Jordan. Entomophaga 33: 229-237.

Nalini, T. and Manickavasagam, S. 2011. Records of Encyrtidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) parasitoids on mealybugs (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) from Tamil Nadu, India. Check List 7: 512.

Nechols, J.R. and R.S. Kikuchi. 1985. Host selection of the spherical mealybug (Homoptera, Pseudococcidae) by Anagyrus indicus (Hymenoptera, Encyrtidae) - influence of host stage on parasitoid oviposition, development, sex-ratio and survival. Environmental Entomology 14: 32-37.

Nechols, J.R. and Seibert, T.F. 1985. Biological control of the spherical mealybug, Nipaecoccus vastator [Homoptera: Pseudococcidae]: assessment by ant exclusion. Enviromental. Entomology 14: 45–47.

Websites

http://www.nbair.res.in/Featured_insects/images/anagyrus-indicus2.jpg https://www.google.co.il/search?