First Record of a Fairyfly,Cleruchus depressus(Annecke) (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae), Parasitizing Eggs of Banded Fruit Weevil,Phlyctinus callosusSchönherr (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), in South Africa

Abstract

Banded fruit weevil, Phlyctinus callosus Schonherr (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is indigenous to South Africa, and is a polyphagous species occurring or feeding on a wide variety of weeds, grasses and ornamental plants (Barnes 1987). The oldest specimen in South African collections was collected on Devil's Peak, Cape Town, in 1884, and is housed in the SAMC: Iziko South African Museum (Cape Town), under the catalogue number SAM-COLA045063 (S. Van Noort, pers. comm.). Phlyctinus callosus is adapted to hot, dry summers and wet winters (Annecke & Moran 1982), and with one exception (the annotation of which is dubious) has only been recorded in South Africa below latitude 33°S (Barnes 1987).