<i>Scutellista caerulea</i> (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) makes another reappearence in New Zealand

Abstract

The purpose of this short note is to record further New Zealand records of Scutellista caerulea (Fonscolombe, 1832). In 1921, the species was imported and released in Nelson for the biological control of pest scale insects. It was not seen again until I captured a single female specimen on 17 April 2013. The specimen was captured alive outdoors on the Tamaki Campus of the University of Auckland. It took me nearly two full years to find a second specimen, but another female finally turned up on 21 March 2015, just tens of metres away from where I had captured the first specimen.