Plagiomerus Crawford 1910

Hosts. Hemiptera: Diaspididae

diaspidis Crawford 1910: 90

Type. USNM

Distribution. W (Alameda, Butte, Inyo, Lassen, Los Angeles, Marin, Mendocino, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, Yuba)

Host/habitat. Clavaspis sp., Diaspis echinocacti, Hemiberlesia lataniae; NEW: Chionaspis ortholabis (EMEC), Lepidosaphes sp. (UCRC)

Remarks. De Santis (1979) lists “ Clovastis sp.” as a host—presumably a misspelling of “ Clavaspis sp.” Two species of Plagiomerus ( P. diaspidis and P. cyaneus Ashmead, 1888) reported from the Nearctic Region, and a third ( P. hospes Timberlake, 1920) from the Neotropical Region, are mostly distinguished from each other based on the color and relative dimensions of the funicle segments. Specimens from California (some from the same localities) generally resemble P. diaspidis, but reflect this range of antennal variation, suggesting a high degree of variation in this species, and that these characteristics are therefore of questionable use in distinguishing species.