APHIDS (HEMIPTERA, APHIDIDAE) AND ASSOCIATED BIOTA FROM THE KINGDOM OF TONGA, WITH RESPECT TO BIOLOGICAL-CONTROL

Surveys of the aphid and associated insect fauna of The Kingdom of Ton ga were conducted as part of a biological control program against the banana aphid, Pentalonia nigronervosa Coquerel, using the polyphagous aphidiine parasite, Aphidius colemani Viereck. Ten aphid species were collected, plus three species of primary parasites (Hymenoptera: Aphel inidae and Braconidae: Aphidiinae); one species of hyperparasite (Hyme noptera: Charipidae); coccinellid, hemerobiid, and syrphid predators ( Coleoptera: Coccinellidae; Neuroptera: Hemerobiidae; and Diptera: Syrp hidae); parasites of syrphids (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae and Encyrtid ae); and eleven species of aphid-attendant ants. The aphids Brachyraud us helichrysi (Kaltenbach), Hyperomyzus carduellinus (Theobald), Hyste roneura setariae (Thomas), Myzus persicae (Sulzer), and Toxoptera citr icidus (Kirkaldy) are new records for Tonga. Aphis craccivora Koch, A. gossypii Glover, Brachycaudus helichrysi, Myzuspersicae, P. nigronerv osa, Rhopalosiphum maidis (Fitch), Toxoptera aurantii (Boyer de Fonsco lombe) and T. citricidus are all known to be suitable hosts for A. col emani. Compiled distributional data of aphids on South Pacific islands show that these species are present throughout the region, which sugg ests that A. colemani could be a useful addition to the insect fauna o f the region. Aphidius colemani was recovered in 1992 from Aphis gossy pii. The hyperparasite Alloxysta darci (Girault) is unlikely to parasi tize A. colemani or any other Aphidiinae.