First host record and new distribution records of Paracentrobia fusca (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae), an egg parasitoid of Nephotettix cincticeps (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) in Japan

Abstract

Paracentrobia (Paracentrobia) fusca Lin (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae), which was previously known only from mainland China, is newly recorded from Australia, India, Japan, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, and Thailand. Its host associations were previously unknown. In Japan, it was reared for the first time from sentinel eggs of the green rice leafhopper, Nephotettix cincticeps (Uhler) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae), on rice plants exposed to parasitization in a rice field in Fukuoka Prefecture on Kyushu Island. All the individuals emerged as a single specimen per one host egg. This solitary egg parasitoid can be regarded as just an occasional natural enemy of N. cincticeps in Japan as it was reared from this rice pest only once and at one locality. Our finding expands the known distribution of P. fusca and provides the first record of its host association. To assist with identification, both sexes of P. fusca are for the first time illustrated with digital images to facilitate their recognition.