Korean encyrtids (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) associated with scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha)

Abstract

Scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha) are sap-sucking plant parasites and economically important pests on agricultural and horticultural crops. Scale insects are often difficult to control since their body is protected by a wax cover. Parasitic wasps that live and develop in scale insects are important natural enemies and effective biological control agents of pest scale insects. Chalcid wasps of the family Encyrtidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) comprise the largest group of parasitoids of scale insects, followed by the family Aphelinidae. Here, an updated list of all thirty-six species of encyrtids in twenty-three genera that have been identified or reported from South Korea is provided, along with a dichotomous taxonomic key to separate them.