''Tetrastichus'' is a genus of

hymenoptera Hymenoptera is a large order of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are parasitic. Females typi ...

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

s of the family

Eulophidae The Eulophidae is a large family of hymenopteran insects, with over 4,300 described species in some 300 genera. The family includes the genus '' Elasmus'', which used to be treated as a separate family, "Elasmidae", and is now treated as a subfa ...

. '' Tetrastichus planipennisi'' is a

parasitoid In evolutionary ecology, a parasitoid is an organism that lives in close association with its host (biology), host at the host's expense, eventually resulting in the death of the host. Parasitoidism is one of six major evolutionarily stable str ...

of the

emerald ash borer The emerald ash borer (''Agrilus planipennis''), also known by the abbreviation EAB, is a green buprestid or jewel beetle native to north-eastern Asia that feeds on ash trees, ash species (''Fraxinus'' spp.). Females lay eggs in bark crevices o ...

, a wood boring insect native to Asia which is an invasive species in North America. ''T. planipennisi'' is being evaluated as a

biological control Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, whether pest animals such as insects and mites, weeds, or pathogens affecting animals or plants by using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or o ...

agent.

Host species

The genus ''Tetrastichus'' parasitizes many different species of Lepidoptera, such as ''

Pyralis farinalis ''Pyralis farinalis'', the meal moth, is a cosmopolitan moth of the family Pyralidae. Its larvae (caterpillars) are pests of certain stored foods, namely milled plant products. It is the type species of the genus '' Pyralis'', and by extensio ...

''.

References

Key to Nearctic eulophid generaUniversal Chalcidoidea Database
Eulophidae Hymenoptera genera {{Eulophidae-stub