Encarsia Parasitoids of Bemisia-Tabaci (hymenoptera, Aphelinidae, Homoptera, Aleyrodidae) - A Preliminary Guide to Identification

A key is provided for the recognition of previously described Encarsia species which are known to attack the tobacco whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius). 28 nominal species are included, of which type material has been examined for 22. Eight new synonymies are proposed: Encarsia aleyrodis (Mercet) and F. partenopea Masi are both synonymized with E. inaron (Walker); E. bemisiae (Ishii) is synonymized with E. transvena (Timberlake); E. citri (Ishii) is synonymized with E. strenua (Silvestri), E. angelica Howard and E. deserti Rivnay & Gerling are both synonymized with E. luteola Howard; E. perspicuipennis (Girault) is synonymized with E. quaintancei (Howard); E. tabacivora Viggiani is synonymized with E. pergandiella Howard. E. hispida De Santis is removed from synonymy with E. meritoria Gahan. A lectotype is designated for E. porteri (Mercet). The known distributions and alternative hosts of Encarsia species attacking B. tabaci are provided as well as references to biology and notes on their use in biological control.