Hexacnemus Timberlake 1926

Zuparko, Robert L., 2015, Annotated Checklist of California Encyrtidae (Hymenoptera), Zootaxa 4017 (1), pp. 1-126 : 31

Hexacnemus Timberlake 1926

Hosts. Neuroptera : Hemerobiidae

armitagei Timberlake 1926: 15

Type. USNM

Distribution. N (Lake, Ventura)

Host/habitat. Sympherobius californicus , S. sp.

Remarks. Gordh (1979) noted that H. armitagei has also been reported to parasitize mealybugs on citrus, probably based on a specimen from Florida (USNM) that has “Mealybug, citrus” on the collecting label. Sympherobius is predacious on mealybugs, and I suspect this is a mistaken host record, and the true host was an unrecognized hemerobiid. Noyes (2001) reported that a record of the genus from South America (where it putatively attacked Aleurothrixus floccosus and Planococcus citri ) was in error. In fact, Parker et al. (1953) reported an Argentinean Hexacnemus sp. “ex material” of these two species, noting that the parasites were reared “in grosso modo” from lots of material, and that the precise role of the parasite is not available. I have seen a male specimen (USNM) of this parasitoid from Argentina , and it is definitely a Hexacnemus species, although I am unable to determine if it is conspecific with H. armitagei . Additionally, the USNM has a female and male Hexacnemus sp., reared in association with nymphs of Phenacoccus gossypii , apparently from Columbia (CIAT- Palmira), that appear to represent an undescribed species of this genus.