The global whitefly parasitoids handbook: An identification manual to their most effective natural enemies

Successful biological control programs are centered on the accurate identification of natural enemy-pest species complexes, but this task is hampered by a lack of high-quality, comprehensive identification tools. Whiteflies are plant feeding insects that cause billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide, yet no keys to the families and genera of their most important natural enemies, parasitoid wasps, have been proposed at the world level. We aimed to fill this gap in knowledge by creating a fully-illustrated identification manual to the parasitoid Hymenoptera that attack whiteflies globally. Dichotomous and multi-entry keys are provided to the 10 families and 30 genera that have been reared from whiteflies. The geographic distribution, use and potential in biological control, species richness, and host-associations for each taxon are discussed, and the validity of certain parasitoid rearings from whiteflies are commented on. We hope that access to this information will allow users to accurately identify the hymenopteran natural enemies of this important group of pests, thereby facilitating and stimulating further investigation