Abstract
Fairyfly (Hymenoptera, Mymaridae) egg parasitoids of the tea green leafhopper Empoasca (Matsumurasca) onukii Matsuda (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae), an economically important pest in Asia of the tea plant, Camelliasinensis, were identified from specimens reared in Japan. Using a combination of genetic and morphological evidence, Anagrus (Anagrus) rugmanjonesi Triapitsyn & Adachi-Hagimori, sp. n., is described and illustrated. It is shown to be different from the most similar A.turpanicus Triapitsyn & Hu, an egg parasitoid of a leafhopper pest of cultivated grapes which is known from Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China. Mitochondrial and nuclear ribosomal DNA sequence data provide clear evidence for the separation of A.rugmanjonesi from A.turpanicus and other members of the Anagrusincarnatus Haliday species complex. A key to females of the Japanese species of Anagrus Haliday is given. Two other species of Mymaridae, Aresconenocki (Subba Rao & Kaur) and Stethyniumempoascae Subba Rao, are also identified, albeit the latter one only tentatively. Both latter taxa are newly recorded from Japan, and E.onukii represents their new host association.
Highlights
The tea green leafhopper, Empoasca (Matsumurasca) onukii Matsuda (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae) (Fig. 1) is one of the major pests of tea plants in Japan and in mainland China and Taiwan where it has been commonly misidentified as Empoasca vitis (Göthe) and Jacobiasca formosana (Paoli), respectively (Qin et al 2015)
All tea plants belonged to variety ‘Yabukita’
The shoots were transferred to two different container sets for observing either eclosion of the nymphs of tea green leafhoppers or emergence of egg parasitoid adults
Summary
The tea green leafhopper, Empoasca (Matsumurasca) onukii Matsuda (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae) (Fig. 1) is one of the major pests of tea plants in Japan and in mainland China and Taiwan where it has been commonly misidentified as Empoasca vitis (Göthe) and Jacobiasca formosana (Paoli) (or as Empoasca formosana Paoli), respectively (Qin et al 2015). Eggs of E. onukii are laid singly, embedded in the soft tissues of tea bushes, such as veins of leaves and tender stems (Takagi 1978). In Japan, tea green leafhoppers have developed resistance to the insecticides (Ozawa et al 2009) used intensively against this pest. Development of alternative control methods is desirable. Egg parasitoids offer one potential alternative for regulating tea green leafhopper populations. Takagi (1978) found mymarid wasps (Hymenoptera, Mymaridae), known as fairyflies in English, in tea fields in Japan, and later, Ojima et al (2010) provided data on the population dynamics of three species parasitizing eggs of E. onukii in tea plantations in Kochi Prefecture. Biological control-based integrated pest management (IPM) using these egg parasitoids has not yet been established
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