Quadrastichus mendeli (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae): parasitism on Leptocybe invasa (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) and first record in Brazil

The eucalyptus gall wasp Leptocybe invasa Fisher & La Salle (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), of the subfamily Tetrastichinae, from Australia, is an important exotic pest in eucalypts plantations in the world.The first report of L. invasa in Brazil was in 2007 damaging plants of Eucalyptus camaldulensis x Eucalyptus grandis hybrid clones in nursery and plantations in the Bahia state (Costa et al., 2008).Damage by this insect reduces the growth and wood production of Eucalyptus spp.This insect lays eggs in the region of the central rib of the leaves, petiole, apex and new branches where its larvae make galls, affecting the sap flow and may cause plant death (Kavitha-Kumari et al., 2010;Costa et al., 2008).Biological control and genetic selection of plants are promising to manage L. invasa, since the efficiency of chemical insecticides against larvae of this pest in their galls is reduced (Masson, 2015).The specific parasitoid of L. invasa, Selitrichodes neseri Kelly & La Salle (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae: Tetrastichinae), was imported from South Africa to Brazil in 2015.This natural enemy has adapted to laboratory rearing, released and established in the field with adequate efficiency (Masson et al., 2017).Quadrastichus mendeli Kim & La Salle (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae: Tetrastichinae), from Australia, is another promising and effective parasitoid of L. invasa (Kim et al., 2008).The parasitoid Q. mendeli is distributed in South Africa, Argentina, China, India, Israel, Italy and Thailand with adequate parasitism levels (Kim et al., 2008;Shylesha,