Metanotalia Mercet 1921

Zuparko, Robert L., 2015, Annotated Checklist of California Encyrtidae (Hymenoptera), Zootaxa 4017 (1), pp. 1-126 : 35

Metanotalia Mercet 1921

Hosts. Hemiptera : Pseudococcidae

maderensis ( Walker 1872: 116) (Ectroma)

Type. BMNH

Distribution. A (Alameda, Amador, Contra Costa, Glenn, Marin, Mendocino, Modoc, Napa, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Tulare)

Host/habitat. Antonina purpurea , Phenacoccus madeirensis

Remarks. Despite its small size, this is an easily recognized species, and since the mid 1990s, I have often swept it from grass in many areas throughout the state. However, the first published record of this species from California wasn’t until 1988 ( Noyes 1988b), and the earliest record I found from the state was from Orange County (UCRC) in 1983, suggesting it is a relatively recent introduction. The species is probably Palearctic in origin, and now occurs in New Zealand as well as throughout the Holarctic region ( Noyes 2001). It may have been unintentionally introduced into southern California in a shipment of parasitized mealybugs from Taiwan in 1951 ( Zuparko 1995a).