Parasitism of Four Species of Lygus (Hemiptera: Miridae) by Anaphes ovijentatus (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae) and an Evaluation of Other Possible Hosts

Eggs of the four species of Lygus that are important agricultural pests in the United States—L. hesperus Knight, L. lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois), L. elisus Van Duzee, and L. desertinus Knight—were all heavily parasitized by the mymarid Anaphes ovijentatus (Crosby and Leonard). Under laboratory conditions L. desertinus was the most suitable host, whereas L. elisus was the least suitable. Eggs of Nabis spp. were seldom parasitized, nor were those of the threecornered alfalfa hopper, Spissistilus festinus (Say). Two mirids collected from weeds in southern Arizona, Polymerus basalis (Reuter) and Taedia marmoratus (Uhler), were added to the host list. The predaceous mirid, Deraeocoris brevis (Uhler), was parasitized in the laboratory, and thus is a potential host in the field.