Encarsia lahorensis Howard
(Insecta: Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae)
Encarsia lahorensis is specialist endoparasitoid of citrus whitefly, Dialeurodes citri, and was first detected in India in 1911.
The minute adult wasps are 0.54 to 0.84 mm long. Females are white with a yellow head and antennae. Males have a brown head and abdomen.
Mated females lay eggs into third and fourth instar nymphs of the citrus whitefly host. These fertilized eggs complete their development inside the host and emerge as females after about 24 days at 24C. Virgin females parasitize mature larvae or pupae of their own species, and the unfertilized eggs emerge as adult males.
Native to Pakistan and India, Encarsia lahorensis was introduced for control of citrus whitefly in 1966 into California and in 1977 into Florida, where it subsequently established significant populations in 59 counties.
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Adult female of Encarsia lahorensis Howard ovipositing into a nymph of citrus whitefly, Dialeurodes citri
(Photographer: Jeffrey W. Lotz, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Bugwood.org, with permission 2013-09-12)