Parasitism of <i>Halyomorpha halys</i> and <i>Nezara viridula</i> (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) sentinel eggs in Central Florida

Abstract Egg parasitoids of Halyomorpha halys (Stål) and Nezara viridula (L.) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) were identified from sentinel egg masses and yellow sticky traps deployed in Central Florida from March 2021 to March 2022. The eggs and traps were placed in two peach orchards, a vegetable farm, and a vineyard. Approximately 3,300 eggs were deployed and the 1,472 eggs not consumed by predators or lost yielded 61 parasitoids. Parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera) that emerged from eggs of both host species included Anastatus spp. (Eupelmidae), Anastatus nr. hirtus (Ashmead), Anastatus tenuipes (Bolivar y Pieltain), and Trissolcus solocis Johnson (Scelionidae) . Five species of parasitoids were obtained only from H. halys eggs: Anastatus mirabilis (Walsh and Riley), Ooencyrtus sp. 2 (Encyrtidae), Ooencyrtus johnsoni (Howard), Trissolcus brochymenae (Ashmead), and Trissolcus hullensis (Harrington). These are new host-parasitoid associations for Florida. Ooencyrtus sp. and Psix striaticeps (Dodd) (Scelionidae) were obtained only from N. viridula eggs. Mitochondrial DNA sequencing using CO1 identified 11 parasitoid species: P . striaticeps , T . brochymenae , T . hullensis , T . solocis , Ooencyrtus sp. 1, Ooencyrtus sp. 2, O . johnsoni , Anastatus nr. hirtus , Anastatus sp. 1, A . tenuipes , and A . mirabilis . Another 13 specimens of Anastatus were not conclusively identified to species. The yellow sticky traps captured 26 egg parasitoids, including Telenomus spp. (Scelionidae), Hadronotus spp. (Scelionidae), P . striaticeps and a Trissolcus sp. This research provided preliminary information for augmentative biological control of pentatomids in Florida crops.