Prospaltellini, Kresslein & Polaszek & Burks & Mottern & Lahey & Heraty, 2025

Prospaltellini Nikol’skaya stat. rev.

( Figure 3A,B View Figure 3 )

Prospaltellinae Nikol’skaya’s and Yasnosh 1966: 143, 240. Type genus Prospaltella Ashmead, 1904 View in CoL in Ashmead 1904b.

Encarsini Viggiani and Battaglia 1984: 169 . Type genus Encarsia Förster, 1878 View in CoL . As a tribe of Coccophaginae .

Prospaltellini Nikol’skaya’s and Yasnosh 1966 in Shafee and Rizvi, 1978: 103, 106.

Diagnosis

Antenna usually with rounded apex ( Figure 3A View Figure 3 ), some species with spindle-shaped antenna, if so, parasitoids of Diaspididae ( Figure 3B View Figure 3 ); clava sometimes enlarged; axilla usually subquadrate (rarely subtriangular); tarsal formula either 5-5-5 or 5-4-5 (if antenna spindle-like, then submarginal vein with 2-setae and tarsal formula 5-5-5); syntergum undivided. Females are parasitoids of Aleyrodidae and Diaspididae (as well as several less common hosts). Males, where present, are autoparasitoids or heterotrophic parasitoids.

Comments

Prospaltellini stat. rev. contains a single genus ( Encarsia ) with 486 species ( Kresslein et al. 2023). Most recently Encarsia was placed in the tribe Pteroptricini Ashmead, 1904 . Pteroptricini was diagnosed by subquadrate axilla, a medially membranous pronotum, and a sparsely setose mid lobe of the mesoscutum. Contemporary phylogenetic analyses ( Cruaud et al. 2024; Kresslein 2024) recover the monophyly of Encarsia , but a polyphyletic Pteroptricini . Thus, we revive Prospaltellini and restrict Pteroptricini to Pteroptrix Westwood, 1833 , Bardylis Howard, 1907 , Coccophagoides Girault, 1915 , and Diaspiniphagus Silvestri, 1927 . Presently, 34 species groups of Encarsia are recognised ( Kresslein et al. 2023); however, ongoing analyses are examining the phylogenetic stability of these species groups and may result in the creation of additional genera within Prospaltellini .