Explanation of Names
Tiphia vernalis Rohwer, 1924
Identification
The male is distinguished from other eastern species by having an impunctate and polished stripe along the middle of sternite 6. This stripe widens at the posterior and has white setae along the sides. The female is distinguished by having 2-3 short and indistinct longitudinal grooves on the middle of the pronotum.
(1)Range
native to e. Asia, adventive in NA, established in ne. US (NH south to NC, west to MI, OH, KY, & TN)
(1)Food
Used as a control measure against the introduced
Popillia japonica (Japanese beetle). Adults feed on honeydew.
(1)Remarks
Introduced from Korea and China in 1925 to combat the Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica). A related species, T. popilliavora was introduced from Japan in New Jersey in 1921-22 for the same purpose. They are both very slow to disperse, therefore, later on some were distributed to other parts of the country. (Mahr, 1999)
Print References
Obeysekara, Piyumi T. (2013) Host Selection of Spring Tiphia (
Tiphia vernalis) and Summer Tiphia (
Tiphia popilliavora), Natural Enemies of Japanese and Oriental Beetles. Doctoral Dissertations, University of Connecticut, 295: 1-134 (
Full text)
Ramoutar D., Legrand A. (2007) Survey of
Tiphia vernalis (Hymenoptera:Tiphiidae) a parasitoid wasp of
Popillia japonica (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in Connecticut. The Florida Entomologist, 90(4): 780-782 (
Full text)
Internet References
Legrand, Ana. (2012)
The spring Tiphia: a natural enemy of the Japanese beetle. University of Connecticut Integrated Pest Management (Web Archive)
Mahr, S. (1999)
Know your friends: Tiphia vernalis and T. popilliavora. Midwest Biological Control News (Web Archive)
