Parasitoid Composition of the Litchi Stink Bug Tessaratoma papillosa (Hemiptera: Tessaratomidae) From Guangdong Province of China

ABSTRACT

The litchi stink bug, Tessaratoma papillosa , is a major pest threatening lychee production across Asia. In Guangdong Province, China, its feeding habits cause significant losses in fruit yield and quality. Despite a long history of biological control efforts using parasitoids against this pest, the parasitoid community associated with its eggs remains poorly characterised. This study assesses the parasitoid community associated with T. papillosa eggs across 13 lychee orchards in 2024 and 2025, focusing on their diversity, composition, distribution and parasitism rates. A total of 403 egg masses were collected and reared in the laboratory, resulting in the identification of six parasitoid species: Anastatus dexingensis , Anastatus fulloi , Anastatus shichengensis , Ooencyrtus phongi , Ooencyrtus utetheisae and a Baryscapus sp. Notably, O. phongi was the most widely distributed species, while A. fulloi was prevalent in fewer locations. Parasitism rates varied significantly across locations and were influenced by orchard management, surrounding habitat and orchard size. Specifically, higher parasitism was observed in orchards under no control management and those adjacent to nature reserves, whereas orchard size showed a weak but significant negative correlation with parasitism. These findings provide a critical baseline for understanding parasitoid community composition and highlight the importance of parasitoid diversity and ecological interactions for improving biological control strategies against T. papillosa in lychee orchards.