Stethynium empoascae Subba Rao (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae), a newly recorded egg parasitoid of Amrasca biguttula (Ishida) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae), a pest of okra on Ogasawara (Bonin) Islands, Japan

Abstract

The okra leafhopper, Amrasca (Sundapteryx) biguttula (Ishida) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae), is an economically important pest of okra, Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench (Malvaceae), in southern Japan including Chichijima and Hahajima, Ogasawara (Bonin) Islands. Parasitoids of A. biguttula in the Ogasawara Islands revealed that only one species, Stethynium empoascae Subba Rao (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae), parasitizes its eggs there. A possibility of a biological control program against the okra leafhopper on Ogasawara Islands by introducing its other known egg parasitoids from southern Japan is discussed.