Description, biology, and karyotype of a new Psilochalcis kieffer (Hymenoptera : Chalcididae) from indianmeal moth pupae (Lepidoptera : Pyralidae) associated with culled figs

Psilochalcis brevialata Grissell and Johnson, new species, is described and illustrated based on specimens from a laboratory culture reared on Plodia interpunctella (Hubner) pupae. This species, isolated from laboratory-reare d P. interpunctella placed at a culled fig warehouse in central California, is the first Psilochalcis associated with stored product pyralids. In the laboratory, P. brevialata also sucessfully parasitized Cadra figulilella (G regson), C cautella (Walker), Ephestia elutella (Hubner) and Amyelois trans itella (Walker). The karyotype of P. brevialata showed a haploid chromosome number (n) of 6, the highest n value known for the family Chalcididae. Fem ale P. brevialata had relatively long reproductive lives of 39.3 days, prod ucing an average of 3.3 progeny/day for a total of 128.7 progeny per female .