BIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY OF ANAGRUS-TAKEYANUS (HYMENOPTERA, MYMARIDAE), ANEGG PARASITOID OF THE AZALEA LACE BUG (HETEROPTERA, TINGIDAE)

Mean duration of development of the parasitoid Anagrus takeyanus Gordh in tile eggs of the tingid Stephanitis pyrioides (Scott) was 36.7, 26 .1, and 16.4 d at 21, 24, and 27 degrees C, respectively. The average lifespan of A. takeyanus adults provided with honey-water solution was 1.35, 1.07, and 0.88 d at 21, 24, and 27 degrees C, respectively, and <1 d at all 3 temperatures when given water only. Male A. takeyanus o ccurred rarely and emerged from host eggs <2 d later than females. The male wasp, previously unreported, has 13 antennal segments; antennae of female wasps have 9 segments. There were 5 emergence peaks in 1992 and 1993 in the Georgia Piedmont. A. takeyanus emerged from overwinter ing S. pyrioides eggs synchronously with or slightly later than its ho st in 1992 and synchronously with or earlier than its host in 1993. Pa rasitism of S. pyrioides eggs averaged 19, 18, and 17% at 3 sites in t he Georgia Piedmont in 1992, and 14, 9, and 7% in 1993. Parasitism of S. pyrioides eggs by A. takeyanus was widespread in Georgia and also w as detected in Alabama, North Carolina, and Florida.