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Kiggaella

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Kiggaella
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Eulophidae
Subfamily: Tetrastichinae
Genus: Kiggaella
Narendran, 2005
Species

Kiggaella oryzae Narendran, 2005

Kiggaella is a genus of hymenopteran insects belonging to the family Eulophidae. There is just one described species, Kiggaella oryzae, only known from rice paddies in Karnataka and Kerala states, India.

K. oryzae has a body length of around 1.2 mm. This insect can be distinguished from similar Minotetrastichus spp. by the lack of any grooves in the scutellum, wings more than three times as long as broad and one pair of cercal setae much longer than the others.

This insect is clearly a parasitoid although the host species as yet is unknown. Its association with paddy fields suggests it may parasitise a pest of rice which could give it potential as a biological control agent.

References

[edit]
  • T. C. Narendran; P. Girish Kumar; S. Santhosh; P. A. Sinu (2005). "On a new genus and a new species of Eulophidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) from the paddy fields of Southern India". Zoos' Print Journal. 20 (7): 1915–1916. doi:10.11609/JoTT.ZPJ.1336.1915-6.