''Psyllaephagus'' is a genus of

chalcid wasp Chalcid wasps (, , for their metallic colour) are insects within the superfamily Chalcidoidea, part of the order Hymenoptera. The superfamily contains some 22,500 known species, and an estimated total diversity of more than 500,000 species, me ...

s. It was named and

circumscribed In geometry, the circumscribed circle or circumcircle of a polygon is a circle that passes through all the vertices of the polygon. The center of this circle is called the circumcenter and its radius is called the circumradius. Not every polyg ...

by William Harris Ashmead in 1900. , ''Psyllaephagus'' contains approximately 245 species. They are found worldwide: Australia has 100 described species; the Palaearctic region has about 57 species, India has about 20, and Africa about 30.

Description

Female

Body length 0.8–3.0 mm, usually between 1.2 and 2.0 mm; usually metallic green or blue-green in colour; mandible usually with two teeth and a large straight dorsal truncation; Antenna 11-segmented; funicle 6-segmented; clava often 3-segmented; fore-wing fully developed, often hyaline, rarely with a smoky spot under marginal vein and stigmal vein; marginal vein usually punctiform (submarginal vein only meeting margin at the point where stigmal vein branches) or slightly longer than wide; marginal and postmarginal veins are both usually shorter than stigmal vein; mesopleuron in side view clearly separated from base of metasoma by propodeum; mid-tibia spur usually shorter than basitarsus; hypopygium very rarely reaching apex of metasoma; ovipositor usually hidden, but may be slightly to strongly exserted at gastral apex.

Male

Similar to female except for antennae and genitalia: the funicle varies from whiplike with long setae to flattened with short setae; clava entire.

Biology and biological control

Most of the ''Psyllaephagus'' species are primary parasitoids of psylloids (Hemiptera: Psylloidea). Three species from Australia have been successfully utilized for biological control of psylloids: ''

Psyllaephagus pilosus ''Psyllaephagus'' is a genus of chalcid wasps. It was named and circumscription (taxonomy), circumscribed by William Harris Ashmead in 1900. , ''Psyllaephagus'' contains approximately 245 species. They are found worldwide: Australia has 100 descr ...

'' was introduced and released in California and European countries for the purpose of controlling '' Ctenarytaina eucalypti''; '' Psyllaephagus bliteus'' was introduced and released in California to regulate ''

Glycaspis brimblecombei ''Glycaspis'' is a genus of plant-parasitic hemipterans in the family Aphalaridae. There are at least two described species in ''Glycaspis''. Species These two species belong to the genus ''Glycaspis'': * '' Glycaspis brimblecombei'' Moore, 1964 ...

''; and '' Psyllaephagus yaseeni'' was introduced into Hawaii and south-east Asia in order to manage '' Heteropsylla cubana''.

References

Encyrtinae Hymenoptera genera {{Chalcidoidea-stub