Abstract
In support of a biological control program in California, USA, against the bagrada bug,Bagrada hilaris(Burmeister) (Hemiptera, Pentatomidae), an invasive pest of Asian origin, colonies of two species ofOoencyrtusAshmead (Hymenoptera, Encyrtidae) are maintained usingB. hilariseggs as host. One of them,Ooencyrtus mirusTriapitsyn & Power,sp. nov., is of Pakistani origin. It displays natural preference for bagrada bug eggs and is being evaluated in quarantine as a candidate for classical biological control. The other,Ooencyrtus lucidusTriapitsyn & Ganjisaffar,sp. nov., appears to be native to California, and we believe it switched toB. hilarisfrom native pentatomid hosts. Both new species are described and illustrated, as is the Old World speciesOoencyrtus telenomicida(Vassiliev), for which a neotype is designated. The presented morphometric evidence as well as mitochondrial and nuclear ribosomal DNA sequence data separateOoencyrtus mirusfromO. telenomicida. A lectotype is designated forOoencyrtus californicusGirault from California, which is morphologically similar toO. lucidus.
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