Pteroptrix aegyptica Evans and Abd-Rabou

Taxonomic placing: Insecta, Holometabola, Hymenoptera, Apocryta, Chalcidoidea, Aphelinidae.

Geographical distribution: Egypt (Sinai).

Morphology: The adult body is Length: 1.0–1.2 mm long, head brown, body black-brown with a yellow patches, antennae with 7 segments.

Hosts: Parlatoria blanchardi, Fiorinia phoenicis.

Life history: A parasitoid of P. blanchardi and F. phoenicis, whose populations have three peaks of abundance, in mid-winter, spring and in mid-summer. It mostly parasitizes hosts that infest the upper surfaces of date palm fronds.

Economic importance: An increasingly important natural enemy of P. blanchardi in northern Sinai, where it appears to be displacing the formerly-dominant Aphytis phoenicis DeBach and Rosen. Average parasitism rates due to F. phoenicis came to 41%, being highest in spring-summer.

REFERENCES

Attia, A.R. 2013. Abundance, distribution and some biological aspects of the aphelinid parasitoid, Pteroptrix aegytica Evans and Abd-Rabou on date palm leaflet at Giza Governorate, Egypt. Egyptian Journal of Pest Control 23: 145-150.

Evans, G.E. and Abd-Rabou, S. 2005. Two new species, and additional records, of aphelinids from Egypt (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae). Zootaxa 838: 1-7.