Egg parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) of the Common Birdwing, Troides helena (L.) (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) from Guangdong Province, China

The Common Birdwing, Troides helena (L.) (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae), is a widespread but locally vulnerable butterfly in South and Southeast Asia. Despite considerable interest in its conservation, little is known about its natural enemies. In this study, we report three species of chalcidoid wasps reared from eggs of T. helena in Guangdong Province of China: Anastatus meilingensis Sheng & Yu and Anastatus garygibsoni Zhou & Peng (Hymenoptera: Eupelmidae), and Ooencyrtus papilionis Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae). Among these, A. meilingensis and A. garygibsoni are recorded for the first time as parasitoids of T. helena. These parasitoids represent an important source of early-life mortality in T. helena owing to their high rates of egg parasitism. Diagnostic morphological characters, illustrations, and DNA barcodes are provided for each species to facilitate the identification of these parasitoids.