Coccophagus gurneyi
Aphelinid parasitoid of Mealybugs

Photography by Max E. Badgley (1922-2006)

Coccophagus gurneyi female, parasiting its host,  Planococcus citri
Photo © Max E. Badgley, published with permission from the Max E. Badgley Estate, with special thanks to the University of California, Riverside, who kindly supplied this image from the UCR Chalcidoidea database collection.

Coccophagus gurneyi has unusual host relationships that are sex-related. Females are diploid (with a full set of genetic material, consisting of paired chromosomes one chromosome from each parental set) and develop internally within the mealybugs they prey upon. Males, in contrast, are haploid (a single set of chromosomes, or half the full set of genetic material that females possess),  and hyperparasitic (parasitizing other parasitoids), developing on primary parasitoid larvae within the mealybugs.

Badgley Photography Index

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