Tamarixia radiata (Waterston)

(Insecta: Hymenoptera: Eulophidae)

Tamarixia radiata is an ectoparasitoid of the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP), Diaphorina citri.

Adult wasps are 0.92 to 1.04 mm long. They have a black body with widely separated eyes. The wings are transparent with feeble yellow veins.

These wasps lay individual eggs beneath host nymphs. The developing parasitoid larva attaches to and feeds on its host, eventually killing it. The parasitoid pupates within the host. The complete life cycle takes about 11 days.

Adult females of these wasps practice host feeding, or feeding on the fluids of ACP nymphs after puncturing them with their ovipositor. This provides the wasps with protein needed for producing eggs and kills more ACPs in addition to those that are directly parasitized.

Native to Taiwan, Tamarixia radiata was imported into the United States as a biological control agent of Diaphorina citri.

Images 

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Female Tamarixia radiata (Waterston) on an adult Asian citrus psyllid

(Photographer: Lyle Buss, University of Florida)

Adults of Tamarixia radiata (Waterston), female on left, male on right

(Photographer: Jason Meyer, University of Florida)