Egg parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae and Trichogrammatidae) of Kolla paulula (Walker) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) in Taiwan

• Leafhopper Kolla paulula was identified as a vector of Xylella fastidiosa in Taiwan.
• Two species of egg parasitoids of Kolla paulula were found in Taiwan.
• Pseudoligosita nephotetticum and Gonatocerus sp. are its first known egg parasitoids.
• The study is complemented by a review of egg parasitoids of Cicadellini in the world.

Pseudoligosita nephotetticum (Mani) (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) and Gonatocerus (Cosmocomoidea) sp. (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae) have been identified for the first time as egg parasitoids of the sharpshooter leafhopper Kolla paulula (Walker) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Cicadellinae: Cicadellini) in Taiwan. K. paulula has been recently identified as a candidate vector of the phytopathogenic bacterium Xylella fastidiosa, the causative agent of Pierce's disease of grapes and similar diseases of other affected plants in Taiwan, and thus has become of particular economic importance. Also provided is a summary of the known records of egg parasitoids (Mymaridae and Trichogrammatidae) of other leafhoppers from the tribe Cicadellini in the world, as well as taxonomic notes on P. nephotetticum.

K. paulula adult (left); a parasitized egg mass in a Commelina diffusa leaf (an arrow points to exit holes made by the emerged adults of P. nephotetticum) (middle); and P. nephotetticum female (right). Photo by Serguei Vladimirovich Triapitsyn and Hsien-Tzung Shih.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide