Scutellista

Scutellista is a genus of chalcid wasps. They are parasitoids of scale insects.

Description
The scutellum projects as a roof over about two-thirds of the gaster. The mesoscutum and scutellum have with many scattered short hairs, rather than pairs of strong bristles.

Taxonomy
The genus Scutellista includes the following species:
 * Scutellista aenea Kurdjumov, 1912 ; found in Ukraine.
 * Scutellista caerulea (Fonscolombe, 1832), a parasitoid of many scale insect species (Coccoidea); it has been introduced into many countries as a biological control agent, and has a world-wide distribution.
 * Scutellista gigantea Berlese, 1916, a parasitoid of the scale insect Ceroplastes mimosae; found in Eritrea.
 * Scutellista hayati (Farooqi, 1981), a parasitoid of Cerococcus, a scale insect; found in India
 * Scutellista hispanica (Masi, 1931) ; found in Croatia and Spain.
 * Scutellista nigra Mercet, 1910, a parasitoid of scale insects; found in Algeria, Croatia, Egypt, Greece, and Spain.
 * Scutellista obscura (Foerster, 1878), a parasitoid of scale insects; found in the Palearctic.
 * Scutellista ovivora (Ishii, 1928), a parasitoid of Lecanium, a scale insect; found in Japan.