Supriya Ghosh (Editor)

Kiggaella

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Kingdom
  
Animalia

Class
  
Insecta

Suborder
  
Apocrita

Scientific name
  
Kiggaella oryzae

Phylum
  
Arthropoda

Order
  
Hymenoptera

Superfamily
  
Chalcidoidea

Rank
  
Genus

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

Kiggaella Wikipedia