Species Insects & ArthropodsWhitefly Parasitoid

Whitefly Parasitoid

Encarsia formosa

UncommonInsect & Arthropod
Illustration of Whitefly Parasitoid (Encarsia formosa)

The Whitefly Parasitoid is a tiny chalcid wasp less than 1mm long that is commercially mass-reared worldwide and released in greenhouses as a biological control agent for greenhouse whitefly. Female wasps lay eggs inside whitefly nymphs; the developing wasp larva consumes the host from the inside. It was one of the first biological control organisms used commercially.

Habitat
Greenhouses and gardens where whitefly infestations occur
Diet
Adults: honeydew and host body fluids. Larvae: internal tissues of whitefly nymphs
How common
Uncommon

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