Eulophid Parasitoids

Abstract

Wasps in the superfamily Chalcidoidea are ecologically and economically important parasitoids for the biocontrol of insect pests and represent 33% of the entire parasitic Hymenoptera. Superfamily Chalcidoidea has 19 families and 89 subfamilies and it is estimated the number of species is between 60,000 and 100,000. Among the families of Chalcidoidea, the members of the family Eulophidae are promising agents for the biocontrol of insect pests of agricultural importance. Eulophids are small to medium size chalcids and can be easily identified at once by the four segmented tarsi, antenna with two to four funicular segments, short and straight foretibial spur and non-pedunculate wings. They are copious in tropical and temperate regions and comprise nearly 6000 species worldwide in 324 genera grouped under 4 subfamilies, namely Entedoninae, Euderinae, Eulophinae and Tetrastichinae. Most eulophids are larval parasitoids but some species are egg and pupal parasitoids. They are host specific and attack a variety of hosts, either as ectoparasitoids, endoparasitoids or facultative hyperparasitoids. Most members of Eulophidae are parasitoids of insect pests belonging to orders Lepidoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera and Coleoptera. About 20 species of eulophid parasitoids are commercially being used as biocontrol agents for insect pests worldwide. Eulophid parasitoids, such as Tetrastichus howardii (Oliff) and Trichospilus pupivora Ferriere against coconut black-headed caterpillar and Pediobius foeviolatus (Crawford) against hadda beetle, are commercially mass-produced and utilized in insect pest management programme. There is enough scope for their utilization as a potential biocontrol agent in agroecosystems for the management of harmful insect pests. This chapter covers taxonomy, diversity, host-parasitoid index, mass-rearing techniques and successful case histories of eulophid parasitoids.