Last updated September 2018
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1 Basal funicle segments quadrate and of about same width; postmarginal vein about 5x length marginal vein …………………………………………………………….………. tenuiscapus
1’ All funicle segments transverse and increasing in width distally; postmarginal vein about 4x marginal vein ………..…………………………………………………………………….… 2
2(1)Head width about 10x minimal frontovertex width; inner margin of eyes with lower section forming almost a right angle from upper section; wings slightly immaculated medially ………… sp. 2
2′ Head width about 6-7x minimal frontovertex width; inner margin of eyes with lower section forming widely obtuse angle from upper section; wings completely hyaline …………….……… 3
3(2) Club oval, length about 2x width …… sp. 1
3′ Club elongate, length about 3x width …..sp. 3
Sp. 1: Contra Costa, Kern, Marin, Mono, Stanislaus (RLZC); Santa Barbara, Solano (UCDC); Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino (UCRC). The antenna closely resembles that of B. rhopoideus (Fig. 107 in Kerrich, 1967). The shape of the club is plastic, varying from oval (with a length about 2x width) to elongate with parallel sides (length about 3x width)
Sp. 2: Stanislaus (RLZC) (1 specimen)
Sp. 3: Marin (CAS) (2 specimens)
Described Nearctic species and distribution
carolinensis (Kerrich, 1967): USA (NC)
decimus (Kerrich, 1982): MEX (MOR)
insularis (Cameron in Blackburn & Cameron, 1886): USA (MS, TX)
rhopoideus (Kerrich, 1967): USA (TX)
saccharicola Gahan, 1942: USA (FL, LA) (USNM has type)
schwarzi (Howard, 1898): USA (FL, TX)
tenuiscapus (Kerrich, 1967): USA (CA)
Remarks
The type locality for B. tenuiscapus is given as “Fillmore”. This is a city in Ventura County wherein an insectary facility was established, and it is not clear to me if specimens so labelled represent locally-collected taxa, or species brought in from other areas in biocontrol programs. Two Blepyrus species were imported into California for biocontrol programs, but both failed to establish: B. saccharicola imported from the southern USA in 1952 against Pseudococcus longispinus (Bartlett, 1978), and B. insularis imported from Mexico in 1966-67 against Ferrisia virgata (DeBach & Warner, 1969). Kerrich (1967) provided keys to species of this genus under both Blepyrus and Euryrhopalus. An inspection of the USNM collection yielded the following results: B. carolinensis, B. decimus, B. rhopoideus and B. saccharicola all key out to sp. 1, but the frontovertex of B. carolinensis and B. saccharicola is relatively slightly wider, B. decimus has different sculpture on the scutellum, and B. rhopoideus has an eye shape that is closer to sp. 2. The holotype of B. schwarzi is missing the head; it has wing darkening similar to sp. 2, but the metapleuron of the former is more triangular and has dense white setae (similar to Trichomasthus), while that of sp. 2 is more crescentic and lacks the setae.
References
Bartlett, B.R. 1978. Eriococcidae. Pp. 129-131 in Clausen, C.P. (ed.). Introduced parasites and predators of arthropod pests and weeds: a world review. United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Handbook 480: 545 pp.
Blackburn, T. & Cameron, P. 1886. On the Hymenoptera of the Hawaiian Islands. Memoirs of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society (3) 10: 194-245.
DeBach, P. & S. Warner. 1969. Importation and colonization of natural enemies of the striped mealybug, Ferrisia virgata, in California. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 62: 1117-1119.
Gahan, A.B. 1942. Descriptions of five new species of Chalcidoidea, with notes on a few described species (Hymenoptera). Proceedings of the United States National Museum 92: 41-51.
Howard, L.O. 1898. On some new parasitic insects of the subfamily Encyrtinae. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 21: 231-248.
Kerrich, G.J. 1967. On the classification of the Anagyrine Encyrtidae, with a revision of some of the genera (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology 20: 143-250.
Kerrich, G.J. 1982. Further systematic studies on Tetracnemine Encyrtidae (Hym., Chalcidoidea) including a revision of the genus Apoanagyrus. Journal of Natural History 16: 399-430.