A New Species of Pediobius (hymenoptera: Eulophidae) Parasitizing Chyliza Apicalis (diptera: Psilidae) in Ash Trees Attacked by Agrilus Planipennis (coleoptera: Buprestidae)

Pediobius chylizae, spec. nov. (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), is described as new and illustrated. This parasitoid has been reared from the puparia of Chyliza apicalis Loew (Diptera: Psilidae) collected from under the bark of ash trees (Oleaceae: Fraxinus spp.) dying after attack by the emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleptera: Buprestidae), an invasive beetle from Asia. This species is compared with related species of Pediobius from the Holarctic Region. ____________________ In this paper we describe a new Nearctic species of Pediobius Walker (1846) (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), compare it with species from the region, and place it within the context of published works addressing the world fauna. This cosmopolitan genus contains 32 Nearctic species among 215 nominal species worldwide (Noyes 2002). Although much taxonomic work concerning Pediobius is available (e.g., Burks 1966, Kerrich 1973, Boucek 1977, Kamijo 1983, Peck 1985, Kamijo 1986a, 1986b, Hansson 2002), many eulophids, including Pediobius, await discovery (Hansson 2002). Biologically, species of Pediobius are quite diverse, acting as primary or secondary parasitoids, utilizing eggs, larvae and/or pupae of species in the insect orders Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Mantodea and Thysanoptera, as well as eggs of Araneae (Burks 1966, Boucek and Askew 1968, Kerrich 1973, Peck 1985). This new species possesses characters of the genus Pediobius as defined by Schauff et al. (1997; propodeum with two submedian, divergent carinae and distinct plicae) and subsequently modified by Hansson (2002) (propodeum with a median carina, groove, or pair of carinae; posterior margin of prepectus overlapped by extension of mesepisternum; lateral ocelli removed from posterior margin of vertex). Recent and extensive recent treatments of the genus by the aforementioned authors make unnecessary a redescription. Male and female specimens can be identified as Pediobius in the keys of Boucek (1965), Schauff et al. (1997), and Hansson (2002).