Host searching behavior of Gryon gonikopalense and Trissolcus hyalinipennis (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae), two candidate biological control agents for Bagrada hilaris (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae)

A maximalist approach to the systematics of a biological control agent: Gryon aetherium Talamas, sp. nov. (Hymenoptera, Scelionidae)

“…Prior misidentifications. Gryon aetherium was misidentified twice by the first author: as G. gonikopalense in Martel et al (2019) and this name was subsequently used in , Tofangsazi et al (2020) and Hougardy and Hogg (2021), and as G. myrmecophilum in Felipe-Victoriano et al ( 2019). The morphological limits of G. aetherium were unclear at the time that these names were used, resulting in a hesitancy to describe it as a new species, especially because not all relevant types had been examined.…”

“…Regarding taxonomic preparedness in Gryon, the North America fauna was revised by but thorough and methodical treatments at the species-level are lacking for most other parts of the world. This created a challenge for identifying the Gryon species (G. aetherium Talamas) that stood out as a promising classical biocontrol agent because of its ability to parasitize 25-55% of the eggs laid in the soil in laboratory settings (Tofangsazi et al 2020;. This species was initially identified by the first author as Gryon gonikopalense Sharma, based on the proximity of the collecting locality of the holotype (India) to that of the biological control agent (Pakistan), and the apparent congruence of morphology among the specimens examined.…”

“…Martel et al (2019) mentioned that the name of the biocontrol agent might change as the taxonomy of Gryon improved and alerted readers to this possibility. The name G. gonikopalense has since been used in Tofangsazi et al (2020), , Hougardy and Hogg (2021) and .…”

Adventive Gryon aetherium Talamas (Hymenoptera, Scelionidae) associated with eggs of Bagrada hilaris (Burmeister) (Hemiptera, Pentatomidae) in the USA

“…data) and O. mirus (Power et al 2020), which appear to be generalists. Furthermore, G. aetherium is able to parasitize B. hilaris eggs under the soil surface, whereas T. hyalinipennis either cannot or can at only low levels of efficiency (Tofangsazi et al 2020), suggesting that T. hyalinipennis parasitism may be limited to eggs laid on the soil surface or occasionally on the leaves or stems of plants.…”

 Gryon aetherium Talamas (Hymenoptera, Scelionidae): Parasitoid of Bagrada hilaris (Burmeister) (Hemiptera, Pentatomidae) Adventive in Chile

“…Nonetheless, G. aetherium can detect buried eggs and overcome the physical barrier constituted by the soil (Martel and Sforza 2021). Other parasitoids of B. hilaris eggs, such as T. hyalinipennis (Hymenoptera, Scelionidae), may not be capable of this (Tofangsazi et al 2020).…”