Quadrastichus haitiensis (Gahan)
(Insecta: Hymenoptera: Eulophidae)
Quadrastichus haitiensis is an egg parasitoid of Diaprepes root weevil, Diaprepes abbreviatus. It also parasitizes weevils in the genera Exophthalmus and Pachnaeus that, similar to Diaprepes root weevil, lay their eggs between folded leaves on citrus.
Adult wasps have a black thorax and a yellowish, pointed abdomen. Females are about 1.32 mm long, and males are about 1.21 mm long.
One wasp develops per host egg, and completion of the life cycle takes about 21 days at 25C. The emerging adult cuts an exit hole through the remaining egg chorion (egg shell) of the host and chews through the citrus leaves that are folded around the egg.
Quadrastichus haitiensis was introduced from Puerto Rico into Florida as a biological control of Diaprepes abbreviatus in the 1970s and again in the 1990s. It now is established in the southern regions of the Florida peninsula.
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Lateral view of adult female Quadrastichus haitiensis (Gahan)
(Photographer: Rita Duncan, University of Florida)