Pistachio seed chalcid

Megastigmus pistaciae

Megastigmus is a genus of minute wasps. The Pistachio seed chalcid, Megastigmus pistaciae, is a pest of pistachios in North Africa and Mediterranean and Middle East countries. It was first discovered in North America in Chico, California, in 1967. Its distribution now includes major portions of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys and limited areas of southern California.
Megastigmus pistaciae I have only seen this kind of insect this one time and found it particularly interesting. https://www.jungledragon.com/image/132855/the_pistachio_seed_chalcid_side_view_02.html https://www.jungledragon.com/image/123910/another_perspective_on_specimen_below.html https://www.jungledragon.com/image/132856/the_pistachio_seed_chalcid_side_view_03.html Europe,Geotagged,Macro,Megastigmus pistaciae,Pistachio seed chalcid,Portugal,Summer,insect

Appearance

Detailed identification photos can be found here:
http://www.waspweb.org/chalcidoidea/Megastigmidae/Megastigmus/Megastigmus_pistaciae.htm
The Pistachio seed chalcid side view 03 https://www.jungledragon.com/image/132855/the_pistachio_seed_chalcid_side_view_02.html https://www.jungledragon.com/image/123910/another_perspective_on_specimen_below.html https://www.jungledragon.com/image/123901/megastigmus_pistaciae.html Geotagged,Megastigmus pistaciae,Pistachio seed chalcid,Portugal,Summer

Naming

Walker 1871

Other names:
Megastigmus ballestrerii (Rondani)
Trogocarpus ballestrerii Rondani
The Pistachio seed chalcid side view 02 https://www.jungledragon.com/image/132856/2021091304.html https://www.jungledragon.com/image/123901/megastigmus_pistaciae.html https://www.jungledragon.com/image/123910/another_perspective_on_specimen_below.html Geotagged,Megastigmus pistaciae,Pistachio seed chalcid,Portugal,Summer

Distribution

Mediterranean, North Africa, Western Asia and California.
The Pistachio seed chalcid front view https://www.jungledragon.com/image/123901/megastigmus_pistaciae.html https://www.jungledragon.com/image/132855/the_pistachio_seed_chalcid_side_view_02.html https://www.jungledragon.com/image/132856/the_pistachio_seed_chalcid_side_view_03.html Europe,Geotagged,Macro,Megastigmus pistaciae,Pistachio seed chalcid,Portugal,Summer

Behavior

Diurnal.
The larva feeds on the pistachio kernel and overwinters inside the infested nuts in the pistachio
orchards either on the trees or on the ground. This species has two generations in a year. The adult wasps lay a single egg inside the young fruits. The damaged fruits stop development and dries out.

Habitat

Pistachio plantations

Food

Parasite of Pistacia vera L, the Pistachio nut.

Predators

Eurytoma is a natural enemy of Megastigmus pistaciae in its larval form.
Also parasitized by Cyrtoptyx pistaciae

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233501859_Pistachio_Seed_Chalcid_Megastigmus_pistaciae_Walker_Hymenoptera_Torymidae_in_California
https://gd.eppo.int/taxon/MEGSBA
https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/33124#toidentity
https://om.ciheam.org/om/pdf/c56/01600196.pdf
Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionArthropoda
ClassInsecta
OrderHymenoptera
FamilyMegastigmidae
GenusMegastigmus
SpeciesMegastigmus pistaciae
Photographed in
Portugal