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November 2008. An article in the West Hawaii Today 26 November provoked several emails from members. It concerned the biological control of the Erythrina gall wasp by Eurytoma erythinae. The parasitoid lays its eggs next to the Erythrina gall wasp’s eggs on the leaves. When the larvae emerge, they prey on the Erythrina gall wasp larvae.
Members reported that the gall wasp was newly recorded in Fiji, New Caledonia and Vanuatu. It was also reported from Tonga in 2006.
An article on the distriubtion can be found at http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2008/f/zt01751p024.pdf, and it reports that it produces galls on shoots, twigs, leaves and petioles of several species of Erythrina, including E variegata (L.) (= E indica), E fusca Lour., E subumbrans (Hassk.) Merr., E crista-galli L., and E sandwicensis O. Deg., and results in loss of coral-bean trees wherever it is introduced.
The Global Invasive Species Database posts a comprehensive profile of the Erythrina gall wasp Quadrastichus erythrinae http://www.issg.org/database/species/ecology.asp?si=965&fr=1&sts=&lang=EN. The distribution page of the profile is at: www.issg.org/database/species/distribution.asp.
There is an Erythrina gall wasp discussion list at: [email protected]. Anyone interested in discussions and information about the Erythrina gall wasp (EGW) (Quadrastichus erythrinae) is invited to join this forum for discussion of this species. See: http://www.hear.org/hearlists/egw.htm.
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